High School Anatomy Students Watch Live Surgery

March 2023  

Throughout the school year, students in Cindy Giannico’s anatomy classes have been studying the human body. On Wednesday, March 22, these students got a live look inside the human body when they had the opportunity to watch the livestream of an aortic valve replacement from a patient at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Chicago.   

“The students were so excited to see the open-heart surgery live,” Giannico said. “It was a great opportunity to find out what role each medical professional in the operating room performs.”

Giannico noted that the students were amazed at how the heart can be stopped and then worked on while a machine provides the patient’s body with oxygen. The two anatomy classes, made up of mostly seniors with some juniors mixed in, had the opportunity to ask the surgeons and doctors questions through the chat feature in the live stream.  

“They loved how it was interactive and how the doctors were answering questions while they were performing the surgery,” Giannico said.

Giannico said that this was the first time she was able to have her class watch a live operation. Many of the students in the class hope to enter the healthcare field one day, so watching the livestream gave them a glimpse of possible career paths and opportunities.