ALJ Students Cancer Research Project
Submitted by Christine Casale Broski
Students in Mrs. Bernadette Jacobi’s PreMedical Studies class at Arthur L. Johnson High School recently completed an Immunotherapy Patient Cancer Research Project. Students were asked to put their scrubs on and assume the role of a doctor who is meeting with a patient just diagnosed with cancer.
The students had to research the selected form of cancer the patient had, the options for cancer treatment, focusing on immunotherapy, and how to address the patient and answer any patient questions. Students also had to determine which immunotherapy treatment would be most effective and whether they wanted to combine it with traditional treatment. In class, student doctors met with their patients, role played by their peers. The students reviewed their patient’s history, took their patient’s vitals, diagnosed the patient, provided a treatment plan, addressed patient concerns, and gave a prognosis. Additionally, students had to present a reflection on what they took away from the experience and why they chose this type of cancer.
Ms. Jacobi stated, “This immunotherapy project is a very powerful tool that completely engages my students in their quest for knowledge and a better understanding of a person living with cancer. It is not your typical research project. The students created their fictitious patient and stood by their sides, holding their hands, through good news and bad, with each step along the way of their disease, from chief complaint through diagnosis, treatment and final prognosis.”
Jacobi continued, “I am just so proud of the work my students did, in how they established a relationship with their patients and earned their trust. They learned a very valuable life lesson, in treating the whole patient as a valued person, and not just the disease they presented with. The personal statements my students made after their presentations were just so powerful, with many of them choosing a particular type of cancer that they wanted to know more about because of a personal experience. Words can’t describe enough, how proud I am of their work, and how incredibly amazing my students are.”
Photos by Clark Public Schools
