For the third consecutive year, the Institute for Medical Simulation and Advanced Learning (IMSAL) participated in the “Yes, I Can be a Healthcare Professional™” conference in Harlem, sponsored by Mentoring in Medicine, Inc. Comprising this year’s Team IMSAL at the conference were Benny Turner and Anil Batra of IMSAL, along with Marisa Oishi, MD, an attending in Emergency Medicine at Brooklyn Hospital Center, Makini Chisholm-Straker, MD, a resident at the Mount Sinai - Elmhurst Hospital Emergency Medicine Residency Program. The team participated as volunteer members of the conference faculty using medical simulation to introduce students to medicine. Students at the IMSAL station placed central lines, intubated a patient and checked a patient’s pulse and blood pressure.

This year over 1,800 students attended the annual event on December 10th at Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem. “It’s very rewarding to meet and engage with the students," said Benny Turner, Director of Operations for IMSAL. “They seem to really enjoy working hands-on with the simulators and were full of questions and curiosity. It’s great to use medical simulation to help spark interest in healthcare careers for these kids, and we're really proud to be a part of this annual event.”

Mentoring in Medicine, Inc., is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to diversify the healthcare workforce by mentoring and exposing students in socio-economically disadvantaged communities to careers in healthcare.