Future doctors of America could be inspired by medical exhibitions at one La Crosse school

Kids at one La Crosse school had an up-close, hands-on anatomy lesson Monday. 

They learned about human hearts and brains, by picking them up and touching them. 

The students handled actual body parts from cadavers, as supplied by medical workers from Gundersen Health System in .

The organ display was part of Science Medicine Day at Northside Elementary School. 

The chief of medical staff at Gundersen, Dr. Robyn Borge, said the hospital goes to one school in the La Crosse district during the year, to put on a day of medical exhibitions.

“They are learning about healthy living, casts, injury prevention, germs, why it’s important to get vaccines, and even a little gross anatomy.” Borge said.

Many students who lined up to feel the body parts said the experience was cool. They asked the medical experts why the organs might not look like they were expecting. Gundersen staffers explained about an absence of blood in the organs, and about preservation methods.

In one classroom, kids talked about how they’ve broken their arms and legs in the past, as they learned about X-rays and setting bones.

Borge hopes that hands-on lessons could get kids to consider future careers in medicine.

“We have doctors, we have nurses, we have medical assistants,” she days. “It is our hope that we may inspire some of these young people to consider fields in medicine down the road.”

The Northside students also tried giving vaccinations, sticking needles into oranges.