Some senior year field trips involve a picnic or an amusement park ride. For these North Catholic seniors, it meant watching an open heart surgery.
"Seeing this in real time, in real life, the actual surgeons doing this on a human body, it's amazing," said senior Victoria Wilson.
It's all part of the Allegheny General Hospital Open Heart Surgery Observation Program to help high school students interested in medicine find their path. Dr. George Magovern, Jr. is Chairman of Cardiovascular Surgery for the Allegheny Health Network. He started the program 10 years ago in honor of his late father, Dr. George Magovern, Sr.
His father was a pioneer, performing the first coronary bypass in Pittsburgh. Dr. Magovern told Channel 11's Katherine Amenta he's a doctor today because he sat above his father's operating room, watching and learning.
This fall, student Lauren Gaertner will be a freshman at the University of Notre Dame. She told Channel 11 she loves medicine, but isn't sure if medical school is for her. At the open deart surgery she learned she'll have other options, like being a surgical physician's assistant. For Dr. Magovern, knowing he inspires students to be interested in medicine goes a long way.
Said Magovern: "You want to end your career having helped a lot of people and this goes along with that."
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/W3Q5W65YHVHNLFPJFHHN7P6Y6M.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/QPGPXM2MIRD55C4XECD7SWHAU4.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/EWZWQ5KMBJDJZOVU6XN73JUD64.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LSZTZUGJCVFQJD5FDBDT6MCI3E.jpeg)
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/04-19-2024/t_c091c1951d7141898980ea42c6448bdc_name_t_940de251e54b4db09cf9c3659504987c_name_towtruckcharges11pp041824_transfer_frame_344.jpeg)