Finding out what an ordinary working day of a neurosurgeon looks like, visiting the Simulation Center, chatting informally with a future classmate, or spending a weekend dissecting a heart. The Junior Academy of the Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University opens the doors to the world of medicine and science to high school students and allows them to experience what it is like to be a medical student even before they graduate from high school. It is certainly not the only program through which universities open up to prospective applicants; however, as the Junior Academy coordinator Nikola Kokešová says: “I believe we are unique in the breadth and diversity of what we offer.”
Can you explain the idea behind the Junior Academy?
We are a voluntary interest-based program through which we try to show high school students what our Faculty of Medicine is like. They can try out whether studying here would even interest them – whether in terms of the subjects our students study or simply whether they can handle the sight of blood. It’s fair to say that not everyone has the stomach for medical school. It’s crazy to expect fifteen-year-olds to decide how and where they will specialize in life, so the Junior Academy is also here to help guide them and show them what university studies can be like.
Does it really happen that a high school student finds out they “don’t have the stomach” for medicine?
Absolutely. Among other things, we organize so-called “Days with Medicine,” which take place in person at the faculty. Once, the head of one program called me to say that one participant had literally collapsed. Coincidentally, it was my nephew, who was trying a laparoscopic procedure on a simulator and… just couldn’t handle it. (smiles) Young doctors often collaborate with us in Junior Academy programs and they have more similar stories. About classmates who wanted to pursue, for example, surgery, but eventually found out they were not sufficiently dexterous for it and had to choose another specialization…
Who usually applies to the Junior Academy? Highly motivated future medical students, or those still searching for direction?
We are open to absolutely everyone, so I feel that the diversity of participants reflects that. Very motivated students apply, who have completed several research projects and have practically already done internships at Harvard, but also those who may seem a bit lost – they don’t really know whether medicine as such would interest them, but they were attracted by a specific program and want to try, say, surgery. And that is completely fine, because it happens that we later meet them at a second event, a third… and eventually we see them enrolling in their first year. But there are also those who attend one event and then we never hear from them again, because they find out it’s not quite right for them, so truly, our scope is broad. Motivated students usually come with many questions, which do not necessarily have to be professional in nature but may concern university studies, how to prepare for entrance exams, how to study, because study requirements at university are different from high school… Our own students often help organize the programs, so for many participants the Junior Academy is also the first opportunity to meet medical students and ask them about experiences that are hard to transfer and that they would not learn about anywhere else.
That is also what the Buddy program is for, right? How does it work and what do high school students take away from it the most?
Yes, through it we try to connect high school students with university students directly in the faculty environment. We say that a buddy is like a “big friend at university.” An interested student can choose their buddy on the website and select a meeting time in the online reservation system. They can have coffee together, but primarily they walk around the faculty and the buddy can share their experiences – where they study best, what it is like to live in a dormitory, where they go for a beer, or whether there is a subject that is really a "pain" and it’s good to prepare for it. In short, they can discuss anything related to university life.
An important part of the Junior Academy agenda are online courses, of which you organize dozens every year. How do they work and how do participants respond to them? Aren’t they afraid of interaction?
We have many popular lecturers who know how to work with high school students and are able to get them talking even online, even though the topics are often quite complex. At the same time, I won’t deny that the most popular way to ask a question is in the chat with the camera turned off. (smiles) Generally – and I have to knock on wood – we have great lecturers who want to cooperate with us and see meaning in our activities. Naturally, however, there are also those who gave one lecture for us and didn’t enjoy it much. The courses are online, participants often have their cameras turned off, and speaking to a black screen is not for everyone. Some tell us directly that they would be happy to give an in-person lecture for us, but they don’t want to do it online…
How many activities does the Junior Academy actually carry out and how full are they?
Over the past year, we recorded three and a half thousand registrations across forty-seven programs, whether online courses, offline courses, or even our suburban day camp. In cooperation with the Department of Pharmacology, we also run programs for entire high school classes – essentially frontal lectures on the topic “Drugs under the magnifying glass.” Any class can contact us and arrange a lecture at the faculty. If interested students plan it well, they can easily spend half a day at our faculty: tour it with a buddy, go on an excursion to the Simulation Center and visit the Anatomical Museum, and also attend a proper university lecture.
It would be wrong to think that participation in Junior Academy events increases applicants’ chances of admission, but we can probably say that it is a way to absorb the faculty atmosphere and perhaps strengthen confidence that one is capable of studying here, right?
As the Junior Academy, we present ourselves at many events and I have a fresh experience from the Czechopes conference, when several high school students approached us with a clear assignment: “Tell us what you are good at, why we should study with you, and you have thirty seconds.” (smiles) We do not promise anyone that we will show them within half a minute what it is like to study at a medical faculty, but all the activities we carry out during the year can gently guide them toward realizing whether medicine or science is the right path for them.
At the same time, you offer a pair of courses that already aim more directly at the studies themselves, right?
Yes, anatomy and Latin, which can prepare applicants not for the period before admission, but directly for what may await them in their first year. Latin is essential for medical students, and especially in the first two years it can cause difficulties. However, not all high schools include it in their curricula, which is why within the Junior Academy we organize a longer Latin course that receives wonderful feedback. Doctor (Kateřina) Pořízková from our Language Centre is able to teach it not only very dynamically but also in an entertaining way. Similarly, in the anatomy course, participants can gain useful insight over ten hours and prepare for another discipline that is fundamental in medicine and with which some students may struggle in their first years.
Applicants to these courses probably already have a clearer idea that they would like to study at the faculty…
Certainly. But high school teachers also enroll, wanting to supplement their knowledge of anatomy or Latin. We have already had several, practically from all corners of the country. Many of our activities are online, which is their great advantage. Previously, we tried to organize as many in-person events as possible, but it turned out that it is good to keep courses online because they are more accessible. You can join from anywhere.
What feedback do you receive on the courses? What topics interest high school students the most?
We naturally collect feedback and try to reflect it when creating new programs. It can be said that young people are very interested in lifestyle diseases, they deal a lot with cancer, but also with musculoskeletal disorders… Based precisely on this interest, we dedicated one of the recent Days with Medicine to orthopedics. We organize them twice a year, each intended for fifty high school students who spend the entire Saturday with us and we let them do what our medical students normally do in their courses. In May, we will organize the jubilee tenth Day with Medicine on the topic of pathology, so we are already looking forward to it.
What role does the Junior Academy play in high school research activities?
We try to find as many supervisors as possible who would get involved in student research projects, or if a high school student contacts us, we can try to help them find a suitable supervisor. However, we cannot guarantee it, because demand from high school students far exceeds our capacity. This is something that troubles us a bit and we would like to work on improving it in the future.
A special activity is the suburban day camp, which targets not only high school students but also younger participants. How does it work?
Well, this year we decided to shift the age group slightly. Historically, the suburban camp was organized for children from six to fifteen years old, but gradually we found that it is difficult to prepare a quality program for such a wide age range. This year, therefore, the camp will be open to children from thirteen to seventeen years old. It makes sense. What entertains a ten-year-old camper may not entertain a fifteen-year-old. Last year at the camp we dissected hearts in the dissection room – of course pig hearts – and it was clear that while the older ones were interested in how it works and how blood flows through it, for the younger ones it was not entirely suitable. So I believe that narrowing the target group will contribute to the overall improvement of the program.
Although the project’s name implies that you prepare programs only for students, anyone can join the online courses. At the same time, you also prepare a special program for teachers, the so-called Teachers’ Day. Why should they want to get involved?
I generally perceive teachers as ambassadors. Even though in the age of the internet and social networks students are able to look up anything online, the personal experience of a teacher who comes to us and sees how things work here and what we are able to offer students is invaluable. Once a year, in March, we invite teachers, show them where their – currently high school – students may one day study, take them through our Simulation Centre, tell them about what the Junior Academy does, but also about the faculty and the admissions process, and perhaps prepare another lecture for them. In short, we want them to leave with a concrete experience, not just a leaflet. And it fits into the breadth of our scope. Activities aimed at attracting high school students are probably organised by all universities. But I believe we are unique precisely in the diversity, in the fact that we truly do a lot of activities. A great advantage is that most things take place online, but if you want, you can try and experience many of them firsthand.
What personally do you enjoy most about organising Junior Academy events? Has any particular feedback pleased you?
Every piece of feedback we receive, regarding any program, warms my heart. It is very nice to see that the work is not in vain, to read “Thanks, it was awesome!” or “Thank you for letting me learn this and that thanks to you.” I can say that whether it concerns online courses or Days with Medicine, we have not received a single piece of negative feedback. And if students who have gone through the Junior Academy come to the Faculty of Medicine aware not only of what awaits them here, but also why they chose us, it makes me all the happier.
Thank you for reading all the way to the end. This article refers to the MED MUNI Junior Academy, whose programme is currently available only to students from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. International students can join the SPAT programme (see the Junior Academy website) or apply for the Summer School at MED MUNI.
From March 14 to 22, I completed an interesting internship in Taipei, Taiwan. During the internship, I visited the Taipei Medical University campus, which includes a simulation center where I had the opportunity to observe demonstrations of teaching methods and facilities. I also discussed experiences with OSCE-based assessment with instructors from the center.
The visit of Prof. Emilio I. Alarcon, a globally recognized expert in regenerative medicine, brought to the Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University a presentation of cutting‑edge biomaterials, intensive scientific discussions, and the opening of new possibilities for joint projects and student mobility between Brno and Ottawa. The faculty is thereby creating further opportunities that may lead to new international collaborations.
