By DAWN BONE / Community Columnist

Shelby County students who attend the centralized high school not only started school with a new school name, Career and Technical Educational Center (CTEC), formerly Shelby County College and Career Center, the school also offers a new program, Project Lead the Way Biomedical Science, to any student enrolled in Shelby County Schools who meet the academic requirements.

The Biomedical Science program, taught by Anna Pike, provides transformational learning experiences with rigorous lessons. Students will work with the same tools used by professionals in hospitals and labs, and engage in compelling, hands-on activities and work together to find solutions to problems. Students will gain in-demand knowledge and skills they will use in high school and for the rest of their lives in any career path they take.

There are four classes in the PTLW Biomedical Science pathway: Principles of Biomedical Science, Human Body Systems, Medical Interventions and Biomedical Innovations. Each class is based around case files of fictitious patients, some classes follow one patient, while others follow several patients or even a whole family. Students will explore the patient’s medical history and current state of health in order to learn about disease processes and how they affect an individual or a family through heredity. In the introductory course, students will explore concepts of biology and medicine to determine factors that lead to death. They will examine autopsy reports, investigate medical history and explore medical treatments.

Shelby County Schools is excited about the opportunity this program provides to our students. Exposing them to lab activities and equipment that many would not see until they reach college provides them the opportunity to explore biomedical career and health care professions in a unique way. If a student is interested in signing up for this new course, they need to see their counselor at their home based high school or call Amy Shannon, CTEC counselor, at (205) 682-6584.