CLEVELAND — It’s not every day you get to cut open a pair of cow lungs, but some students got to experience just that.

What You Need To Know

  • Breakthrough School students got to participate in medical academy

  • Students get lectures from medical specialists and hands-on experience

  • The program was expanded to give students from urban school districts new opportunities

University Hospitals offered a medical academy to students who may not otherwise have the chance for such opportunities.

Select students who attend Breakthrough Schools in the city of Cleveland had the opp to take part in a free medical academy at University Hospitals.

“It’s kinda like a day in the life, but like in person,” said Gabrielle Lykes, 13, who got to take part in the program. She found out she was chosen through an email.

“I was really excited about it. My mom told me about it. We (were) full on jumping up and down,” she said with a big a laugh.

Dr. David Rosenberg is a pulmonologist at UH. He established the medical academy in 2014.

“That’s why we intentionally wanted to provide opportunity to kids that may not other may have had that a suburban child may have,” Rosenberg said

But before they got to the fun part, they got a brief lecture on lungs and lung health. They got to hear from various experts in cardiology and plastic surgery during the two-day academy.

Rosenberg said he wanted the students to walk away with excitement.

“An inner burning to go into health care field,” Rosenberg said.

Lykes had thought about going into health care and loves that she’s getting hands on experience.

“It shows kids before they go into college or decide what they want to do. It shows them what it’s actually going to be like instead of them assuming what it’s going to be like something and they go into it and it’s not really like that,” she said.

“I thought it would be more gross than it was. It wasn’t that bad. It was actually kinda cool,” Lykes said.