The University of Kansas Medical Center is home to more than 2,500 staff members, including 273 research scientists in the new Kansas Life Sciences Innovation Center alone. But as KUMC’s reputation as a leading medical research, education and patient care center grows, so will the need for securing talented, well-educated professionals.

KU Medical Center participates in a number of programs that emphasize the importance of math, engineering, technology and science (METS) education. One of the newest initiatives is called Uplink, which is sponsored by the school-based mentoring program YouthFriends. Uplink places students in internships, business mentors in classrooms and teachers into paid summer jobs related to their education field.

One component of Uplink is TeacherTech, which places teachers in METS-related summer jobs with area employers. Raytown South High School science teacher Jenn Dolson spent her summer at KU Medical Center, working with KUMC doctors and researchers. She says she joined the Uplink program because she wanted to find ways to be a more effective biology teacher.

“If I couldn’t come up with new ways to teach and give my students the best science education possible, then I wouldn’t want to continue to be a teacher,” Dolson says. After spending her summer in a non-high school environment, she will be able to deal more authoritatively with the frequent “why do we have to

learn this” questions she gets from her students. She says because she has been an educator for so long, it has been helpful for her to observe what kind of communications, project management and organizational skills her students will need if they someday pursue science careers.

Dolson worked this summer with several KUMC doctors and researchers on the Mini-Medical School program. The pilot program features a special science curriculum for students in four rural Kansas school districts with an interest in healthrelated careers.

Dolson says although she learned a lot this summer from her KUMC mentors, she’s also proud that she has been able to contribute to their knowledge as well.

“As we developed the Mini-Med curriculum, I think I was a good resource for the doctors on what will work in the classroom with students, and what methods are usually unsuccessful,” Dolson says. Laura Norris, who is an executive vice-president at YouthFriends, says the feedback her organization has received on the TeacherTech program has been overwhelmingly positive. She says KUMC has been a very valuable partner in this program.

“KU Medical Center’s participation in the program has been critical,” Norris says. “We haven’t had to spend time explaining to the Medical Center the long-term benefits of giving teachers realworld experiences to help them inspire students to seek careers in math and science. They just get it.”

For more information, go to www.yf-uplink.org.