Some Oxford High School students got an opportunity to see how the knowledge and skills they’re learning in the classroom today have important applications in the real world tomorrow.
Aaron Elling and Jerry Topolinski, a couple of sales representatives for Restore Sports Medicine, visited the school Friday morning to discuss how innovation has caused the surgical instruments, materials and techniques used to repair shoulder and knee injuries to change and continue to evolve.
‘It’s driven by the patients who are expecting better results with less cosmetic defects,? Elling said.
Students from the Pre-Engineering/CAD and Human Anatomy classes benefited from the visit by doing everything from watching a video of an arthroscopic shoulder surgery to gaining some hands-on experience tying knots with actual surgical instruments.
‘That’s the plan ? trying to develop a partnership between school and industry, so they can see some hands-on stuff, how these skills are used in business,? said Pre-Engineering/CAD teacher Dave Okasinski.
Okasinski said it’s good for his students to see that engineering and CAD aren’t just gateways to a career in the automotive industry. They can also be used to help create new surgical instruments and improve doctors? techniques.
‘With innovation, I think there’s a constant drive for newer, better tools,? Okasinski said.
‘This is why you guys are sitting at these computers. You guys are the people that are going to be developing this. This is the next wave,? Elling told the students.