Knee surgery livestreamed 'direct from the OR' for Calgary high school students
While many Calgary high school students are used to video learning, a livestream lesson took it to a whole new level by showing a total knee replacement surgery live from start to finish.
Dozens of students from Grade 8 and higher observed the procedure from an auditorium at Telus Spark on Tuesday morning,
Joan Bruch volunteered to go under the knife, on camera, for the educational benefit of the students.
"I think it would be a great learning experience. I didn't have that experience when I was in high school, so I think it would be an amazing learning tool," said Bruch, who is in her 70s, speaking with CTV News the night before her surgery.
The operating room at Rockyview Hospital is equipped with cameras to capture the procedure from multiple angles for a select, invite-only audience, which also included various health care students.
"It's one thing for students to watch a surgery online or on a YouTube video but it's quite another thing to interact with the surgical team," said Dr. Jason Werle, chief of the section of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Calgary.
Students directed questions to the surgeon, anesthesiologist and surgical nurse during the operation.
"(It's a great opportunity) to introduce students to the science of surgery, biomedical engineering, meeting nursing, as well as introducing students to health care careers," said Werle.
HEALTH CARE CAREER INSIGHT
Telus Spark has hosted direct broadcasts of surgeries for high-schoolers several times a year since 2013.
"It's that amazing experience that they wouldn't get to see otherwise," said Jen Duffy, manager of youth programs at Telus Spark.
Many of the students say the experience has helped them think about life after high school.
"It was really cool. It felt very immersive and I loved how we got to ask live questions while they were doing it," said Hayden Leppert, a Grade 12 student at St. Francis High School.
"We got first-hand information from them about their job and what to do to get there," said Trey Soondarsingh, a Grade 12 student at All Saints High School.
Others say it has helped them weed out a potential career path.
"Now that I saw everything, I thought maybe this isn't for me. It's cool to watch, cool to learn, but I don't think I'd be able to handle it," said Taran Swinton, a classmate of Leppert's.
The surgery was completed on time without complications.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.