Halifax high school students learn hands-on surgical skills

A medical program in Halifax is teaching high school students the skills of a surgeon.

Students ages 13 to 18 had the opportunity to learn and practice surgical skills through a course that’s designed to not only inspire interest in medicine but give youth the opportunity to gain knowledge and techniques firsthand.

“It’s a program that was created to really encourage high school students to come and see the field of medicine and surgery,” said Abigail Greek, Mentorship in Medicine program founder.

Greek created Mentorship in Medicine to spark interest in medical careers. It’s done through immersing the youth and giving them the chance to try it out for themselves.

“To really get them to envision themselves in the role though, what we do is we get them to scrub in. They do the whole surgical scrub, and then we teach them the skill and then they do the skill while they’re scrubbed and that way they can really picture themselves in the role of a surgeon,” said Greek.

The program launched in the fall of 2024 in partnership with the BGC Greater Halifax. It all started as an idea Greek had as a first-year med student.

“Reading through different pieces of literature, a lot of research showed that, one: diversity in healthcare is very, very important, and two: that there are still lots of gaps that we are still working to improve diversity,” said Greek.

‘Open doors for their futures’

The classes take place at Dalhousie University and are free to the student participants.

“Our motto as an organization is that opportunity changes everything. All that we try to do in every programming that we offer, whether that be for youth 14-plus or even children four to 12, is to provide them opportunities that they might not otherwise have, that can open doors for their futures,” said Madison Laurin, BGC Greater Halifax director of youth programs.

The classes run every Saturday and the team alternates between two programs: future heart surgeons and exploring the field of surgery.

“We teach injections and IVs and phlebotomy. We have airway stuff that we teach and vitals,” said Greek.

Laurin says children come back all the time to take part in these programs and the youth see how valuable the skills are. She says this program can be life changing and open their eyes to what is possible for their futures.

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“Kids are just expressing not only how valuable the actual skill-building is and being able to learn suturing and hand tie is really cool, but also the relationship that they are able to build with the medical professions and medical students who are here and they can start to see themselves as those people,” said Laurin.

‘We need new surgeons’

Saturday’s lesson was suturing and hand ties and it was led by pediatric cardiac surgeon Dr. David Horne, who has volunteered his time with this program for two years now.

“In 15 years, I won’t be a surgeon anymore. We need new surgeons to do the work. The more we plant the seed and the earlier we plant the seed, the longer the tree has to grow roots, and for how long and tough the training is, you need roots and passion to get through the process,” said Horne.

He says this program is an opportunity to expand the medicine world to youth who may not have considered it as an option.

“A program like this gives them the opportunity to make an informed consent on what they want to do next. To walk the path into medicine,” said Horne.

New skills for students

Caleb Balogun is 17 and has taken three classes with this program. His goal is to one day be a doctor, so these are techniques he’s grateful to get a head start on learning.

“That’s us right there, we are suturing, we are going through the pork, we are sewing right through, it was nice to work with something hands on for real,” said Balogun.

Other students like 17-year-old Christabel want to be a surgeon, and this class allows her to truly feel like one, as well as help her decide on a specialty.

“Cardiology seems really fun, but I also want to try anesthesiology, and I want to try all the other types of surgeons, too,” she said.

Angela Adedeji, who is 15, is interested in medicine in general, and she feels cardiology would be an interesting field to go into.

“Especially the person who talked today, he’s a pediatric cardiologist and I love pediatrics and I love kids and want to see what’s that like,” said Adedeji.

Other students came to gain a better understanding of the professions to see if it’s something they are interested in pursuing.

Grade 9 student Nathaniel Andrew just wanted to gain some new experiences.

“It’s always good to get new skills that you can apply to the real world,” said Andrew. “Sewing I’m not interested in, but suturing I am.”

Michael Burton is in Grade 11, and he said it was his parents that encouraged him to attend Saturday’s class and he’s grateful they did. Burton doesn’t know what he wants to do when he graduates, so he’s glad to try new things like this.

“I was doing the hand tying, and I’m not going to lie, it was hard, but I eventually got it,” said Burton.

The spring 2026 Mentorship in Medicine program runs every Saturday until June 6.

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