{"id":41314,"date":"2026-03-06T10:08:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T15:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=41314"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:38:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:38:53","slug":"undergrads-get-hands-on-medical-experience-through-engaged-learning-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/undergrads-get-hands-on-medical-experience-through-engaged-learning-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Undergrads get hands-on medical experience through engaged learning program"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWho wants to go first?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Paul Siffri \u201992<\/a>, an orthopedic surgeon with Prisma Health, held an arthroscope in one hand and a motorized shaver in the other, offering the medical instruments to a group of eight surgical gown-clad Furman University undergraduates.<\/p>\n

The group, part of the university\u2019s Healthcare Today Engaged Learning Program<\/a>, traveled in November to the Hawkins Foundation<\/a> Bioskills Lab in Greenville, South Carolina to learn the basics of a minimally invasive orthopedic procedure. The twist was Siffri was offering the chance for these undergraduate students to practice on an actual, cadaveric knee.<\/p>\n

Engaged Learning Leaves an Impression<\/h2>\n
\"Four

From left, Avery Columbus \u201929, Hunter Kuhnell \u201929, Danielle Buccini \u201929 and Anna Kate Bailey \u201929 watch as Dr. Paul Siffri \u201992 demonstrates arthroscopy instruments at the Hawkins Foundation Bioskills Lab. Photo by Nathan Gray, Furman University.<\/p><\/div>\n

Biology major Amelia Cowart \u201927 was among the first students to brave interacting with the knee. She had shadowed other medical professionals, but this was the first opportunity she had to get any hands-on experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a unique experience not many other universities offer to undergrads,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It was a shock at first to manipulate the pinhead-sized camera as she slipped it past the patella and used her other hand to remove tissue damaged by arthritis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing something successfully that surgeons do in their everyday lives,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was absolutely exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cowart is the president of HOSA-Future Health Professionals<\/a> at Furman, and fast-tracked early acceptance to medical school through the Furman University-University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville Direct Entry Program. For her, the engaged learning program reaffirmed her passion for medicine and gave her the experience to be confident about her career goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeeting doctors and hearing about their lives, and their work, has been comforting,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they\u2019re out there doing this, we can do it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Healthcare Today Engaged Learning Program<\/h2>\n
\"A

Paul Siffri \u201992 helps Anna Kate Bailey \u201929 perform arthroscopy techniques in a lab as part of the Healthcare Today Engaged Learning program. Photo by Nathan Gray, Furman University<\/p><\/div>\n

First-year students at Furman have the option to immerse themselves in interdisciplinary topics, connecting with faculty, staff, alumni and community partners along their academic paths.<\/p>\n

The Healthcare Today program enrolls students in a First-Year Writing seminar course focusing on a medical topic, where they engage with classmates who share an interest in medicine. Beyond the classroom, students get real-world perspective from local healthcare professionals at community partners like Prisma Health System.<\/p>\n

Programs like this contribute to Furman having medical school acceptance rates well above the national average. So far in the 2025-2026 academic year 100% of Furman seniors who applied to medical school have been accepted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis program is designed to expose them to a breadth of healthcare fields, but no matter what type of medicine you go into the competencies and skill often overlap,\u201d said T.J. Banisaukas<\/a>, director of pre-professional advising and chief health careers advisor.<\/p>\n

Mentorship and Professional Perspective<\/h2>\n

Siffri was impressed by how enthusiastic the Healthcare Today students were as they each took a turn practicing with each of the instruments commonly used in arthroscopic surgeries. That fearlessness and curiosity will serve them well in any field, but he said it\u2019s especially useful in the competitive environment of medical school.<\/p>\n

\"A

Hunter Kuhnell \u201929, a Furman student in the Healthcare Today Engaged Learning Program, practices arthroscopy techniques with supervision by Dr. Paul Siffri \u201992. Photo by Nathan Gray, Furman University.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cYou have to love what you do,\u201d he told them. \u201cWhen I\u2019m interviewing you, I want to know if you can take care of my patients, and I care about your enthusiasm and integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students asked him about techniques for avoiding burnout and the differences between working for a hospital system and starting a private medical practice. He spoke with them about their own backgrounds and inspirations for studying medicine. He studied biology himself at Furman before attending the Medical University of South Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my way of paying back the foundation I got at Furman,\u201d he said. He felt proud seeing his alma mater put so much effort into helping students connect with professionals and explore careers in the medical field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was inspiring to see an alumnus so successful and loving his career,\u201d said Avery Columbus \u201929, a health science and Spanish major from Boston. \u201cIt was nothing like what I\u2019d ever expect to do coming in as a first-year undergraduate student, and it\u2019s a reminder that even though our courses might be rigorous, people do make it and it\u2019s a rewarding track to be on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Healthcare Today Engaged Learning Program lets Furman University first-year students share a writing seminar and connect with community healthcare partners to learn about a variety of medical careers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"featured_media":41193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,19,2711,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-biology","category-engaged-learning","category-health-sciences"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41314"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41542,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41314\/revisions\/41542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}