Dr. Robert McNutt visited Central in late January to hold a seminar for students interested in the field of medicine.  The Future Health Professionals club hosted the seminar.

The seminar focused on current day ethics regarding the treatment of patients.  McNutt began the seminar with a real-life case of a woman debating which cancer diagnosing methods to pursue, raising a question that both considered financial and health concerns.  McNutt then allowed students to contemplate this situation, posing questions to help guide them.

In the second half of the seminar, McNutt and the students reviewed sheets that quizzed students on the ethics and current day debates regarding healthcare, viewing healthcare in an angle aside from the science behind it.

Students regarded the seminar positively.  Kelly MacKenzie, senior, said, “It was really neat to get to hear from someone that is actually in the medical field. He brought a new perspective to the club.”

“I learned how to help patients make important decisions about simple things, such as whether to take a vaccine or not, to more difficult thing like taking an MRI to screen for cancer,” said Dania Noghnogh, sophomore, who also attended the seminar. “It was a simple, statistical process that was easy to learn but crucial to apply in real life decisions.”

At the seminar, FHP acknowledged that it would plan to bring McNutt for a succession of more seminars.  Students responded to this well, and said that they would attend again.  “I would definitely go to another one because these are things that you normally would never think about. Honestly, this was the first time I even realized that there’s more to every screening, treatment, and procedure,” Noghnogh said.

“It is not only beneficial to those who want to go into medicine but these are basic skills that you should know to apply when you or a family member goes to the doctor,” Noghnogh said.