26 McHenry High School students mark first class to complete four-year medical program

More than two dozen students in McHenry High School District 156 capped off several years of medical learning at a white coat ceremony Monday evening, signifying their completion of a four-year program geared toward preparing them for a career in the field.

The 26 students honored Monday represented the first class eligible to complete all four years, as the program launched at McHenry High School in 2018.

Sabrina Komorous, 17, one of the seniors honored at the ceremony, called it “bittersweet,” as she’s happy with what she’s accomplished, but enjoyed going through the program.

“It’s surreal to think we’re the first group to get the white coats,” she said.

To get a white coat, a student must complete four courses in the program, each taking one year to complete. While hundreds of students have enrolled in the program since it was launched at the school four years ago, not everyone completes every program, officials said.

Carl Vallianatos, assistant superintendent for learning and innovation, said some students take a class or two and decide it’s not for them. Others may join the program later into high school and not have the chance to do all four.

Some, who have since graduated and didn’t have the option to do all four as the program began after they started high school, have still gone on to pursue careers in the medical profession, Vallianatos said.

“It has very good retention,” Vallianatos said. “Most students are inspired and stay on.”

The four courses include principles of biomedical science, human body systems, medical intervention and a medical residency for the capstone. The program is run through Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit organization that provides learning experiences in science, technology engineering and math.

“It’s just a more hand-on, engaging curriculum,” Vallianatos said. “It’s designed to be highly relevant for the real world.”

The first course, principles of biomedical science, begins with forensic analysis of a crime scene to learn the technique of gathering evidence, said Leah Pelletier, a science instructor and one of the teachers involved in the program. Some of the other things they learn include how to intake a patient and diagnoses along with treatments.

The human body section comes in year two. A trip to the McHenry County College’s cadaver lab was planned in April 2020, but COVID-19 derailed it, Pelletier said. She hopes the trip will happen soon, she said.

The third year is medical intervention, which covers diagnosing, treatment and how to look at tests. Genetic testing and how to find proper treatments for ailments such as cancer, as well as sutures are also gone over, she said.

The capstone, the medical residency, involves seeing all the different departments of a hospital and learning about how they function. Offered through Northwestern Medicine, the residency is selective with capacity for about 30 students.

The ceremony was “a little emotional,” Pelletier said. In the time she’s known the students, she has since gotten married and had a baby. Combining that with what the COVID-19 pandemic took away, she said what she and the group went through in terms of life has been “pretty impactful.”

“It feels like I’m sending off my nestlings,” she said. “There’s honestly no better reward to know you taught them and inspired them to do this for the rest of their life.”

Avary Shrum, 18, said it was the level of hands-on learning that stood out to her, she said. The connection to patients was what she most enjoyed, and it has propelled her to start nursing school next year, she said.

“This [program] was definitely something that made me excited, want to do projects and get involved,” Shrum said. “It made my high school experience that much better.”

Shane Spatol, 17, said he realized through the medical residency that he didn’t want to work directly with patients and was more interested in the research side.

“They were all very interesting classes,” Spatol said. “My favorite part was getting to explore every aspect of the hospital.”