Through mock injuries and visual art, El Paso high schoolers forge a bond with medicine.
By David Peregrino
Several talented El Paso students learned about the connection between the creative arts and health care during a day visit to the Training and Educational Center for Healthcare Simulation at Texas Tech Health El Paso.
The center, known as TECHS for short, is where our medical and nursing students gain hands-on clinical experience by training with realistic patient care manikins and other high-tech simulation equipment.
In May 2023, TECHS welcomed a dozen high schoolers from the Young Women’s STEAM Research & Preparatory Academy. A school within the El Paso Independent School District, the Young Women’s Academy takes an interdisciplinary approach to learning by focusing on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
“We got to see all the ins-and-outs of simulation training to prepare physicians for working in hospitals,” said YWA senior Daniela Granados-Delgado. “And we saw a ton of different examples of moulage for medical simulation.”
Moulage, from the French word for molding or casting, is the art of creating realistic-looking injuries and diseases for medical education. Like film special effects artists, moulage experts use makeup, stage blood, and latex prosthetics to craft wounds, fractures, burns, boils, blisters and other conditions.
Granados-Delgado’s parents are physicians, and she plans to bring hope to her community by following her mom and dad into the health care profession. She’s interested in becoming a dentist, because she knows oral health is linked to a person’s overall health.
“I want to travel the world and share the importance of dental health,” Granados-Delgado said.
The field trip to TECHS also included an art assignment: YWA visual arts teacher Sarai Pagliasotti tasked her students with creating medically themed works of art in advance of the TECHS visit. The students presented their colorful pieces to TECHS executive director Scott Crawford, M.D., and his staff. The works are displayed at the simulation center.
“Their art was inspired by biological systems, like the circulatory system, respiratory system and more,” Pagliasotti said. “Our students learned their art skills can be applied in unexpected areas, such as the medical field. There’s moulage, for example, and also medical illustration is something you can do as an artist. You can make a living off of this kind of artwork.
Get on the Fast Track!
Interested in a career in medicine? Check out our fun educational programs for middle and high school student at Texas Tech Health El Paso:
Medventure for Your Future
A full day of STEM workshops and exhibits for middle school students and their parents.
Summer Medical Camp
Two-week camps for high school students featuring field trips to medical facilities, research labs and our simulation center, hands-on lab sessions and speakers from different medical professions.
MedFuture
Pipeline program for high school students who will be attending the University of Texas at El Paso and have a strong interest in pursuing medical school.
For more information, visit: elpaso.ttuhsc.edu/som/admissions/outreach
