Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

IAA's Youth Scholars Program

A unique opportunity for local youth to work with physician mentors to learn about, and participate in hands-on anesthesia practices at Connecticut hospitals and simulation centers.  

Preparing and Engaging Today's Youth

As one of the pillars of IAA’s DEI mission, community engagement is extremely important to our group. As part of our commitment to community engagement, IAA offers an intensive week-long introduction to anesthesia for rising junior or senior high school students attending one of our partner public high schools in Bridgeport & Hartford. 

Take a look and learn more to find out if this program would be right for you (the student) or your youth scholar!  We look forward to hearing from you. 

Yearly Program Timeline

The Youth Scholars Program

  • Supports 3-5 students each at St.Vincent’s Medical Center / Hartford Hospital

  • Runs during a five-day session (Monday-Friday) in mid-August

  • Includes an initial Zoom session with students & mentors a week prior to discuss the program course outline.

  • Includes one meeting prior to the program to complete hospital orientation and get hospital ID badges.

  • Takes place  at respective hospitals on Monday-Thursday

  • Is held at Harford Simulation Center with a catered lunch on Friday.

Daily Schedule

9:00 AM – 11:00 AM: Didactics

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Lunch in the Cafeteria (Vouchers Provided)

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Shadowing

2:00 PM –Students Dismissed

Program Requirements

  1. School administrators must recommend students for participation in this program. 
  2. Students must be enrolled in a public high school in Bridgeport or Hartford.

    For 2023, we are collaborating with the following schools:
    > Fairchild Wheeler Magnet School
    > Hartford High School 

  3. Students must be a rising junior or senior high school student.  
  4. Students must be eligible to be a hospital volunteer.
  5.  Paperwork to obtain a hospital ID badge, including immunization forms and authorizations must be completed by August 1st.

Program Curriculum

Day One: 

  • Didactics: Overview of anesthesiology as a medical specialty, History of Anesthesia and its evolution, Types of anesthesia: general, regional, and local, Anesthesia team roles and responsibilities in the OR, Common drugs used in anesthesia and their effects.
  • Opening ceremony
  • Procedural Skills: Airway Management
  • Shadowing in the Operating Room

Day Two:

  • Didactics: Pre-operative evaluation and preparation of the patient, Induction and maintenance of anesthesia, Monitoring of the patient during surgery, Emergencies and complications during surgery and how to manage them, Recovery from anesthesia, and post-operative care
  • Procedural Skills: RQI CPR (practicing effective chest compressions at an appropriate rate using a simulator dummy)
  • Shadowing in the Operating Room

Day Three: 

  • Didactics: Pain management options during childbirth, Benefits and risks of epidural anesthesia, Monitoring of the mother and baby during labor and delivery, Management of emergencies and complications during childbirth, Postpartum care, and follow-up.
  • Morning Shadowing / Visit to Healthcare Administration
  • Procedural Skills: IV Placement
  • Shadowing in the Operating Room

Day Four: 

  • Didactics: Types of ICU patients requiring anesthesia, Management of pain and sedation in critically ill patients, Ventilation and airway management in the ICU, Use of neuromuscular blocking agents in the ICU.
  • Procedural Skills: Intubation
  • Shadowing in the Operating Room

Day Five: 

  • Day spent at the Hartford Hospital Center for Education, Simulation, and Innovation (CESI)
  • Simulator Workshops: Procedural Skills, Safety, and Teamwork
  • Closing Ceremony: Students are given certificates & Stethoscope. Feedback provided.

The Four Pillars of DEI

Youth Scholars Program

As part of our commitment to community engagement, IAA offers an intensive week-long introduction to anesthesia for high school students 16 and over for students in public high schools in Bridgeport & Hartford. Learn more! 

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