A doctor recently stated that 90 percent of all the important
          advances in the science of medicine have taken place during the
          last forty years. According to this doctor, prior to 1960, there was less
         than a 50 percent chance that a doctor could help a patient recover from
        whatever it was that was wrong.

     Thankfully, advances in medicine have eliminated a number of diseases
   that once terrified communities and countries. For example, tuberculosis
(or Consumption), which was responsible for the deaths of whole families

                      and decimated communities throughout the 1700s and 1800s, has been
                 reduced to a minor disease in the US. Heart disease, AIDS, asthma, and
          diabetes are some of the killers that medicine is taking aim today.

The field of medicine is made up of many, many branches of science. The activities in this
project will allow you to experience, through a virtual world, some of the jobs and challenges
that face the men and women that work in the field of medicine. You will: see what scientists say about the skills and training required to become a scientist; participate in DNA sequencing so
that a pathogen may be identified; conduct a physical examination to diagnose a patient admitted
to an emergency room; act as a Neurophysiologist and complete a virtual dissection of a leech;
and identify human antibodies to diagnosis a disease.

You will need RealPlayer loaded on your computer to view the videos linked from this web page.

Open and read Becoming a Scientist.

On this site, eleven men and women relate what they believe it takes to become a scientist.
Click on their pictures to open a page (using a Real Player video) and a link to the complete
text of their statements. Listen or read them all.

Students: What do you think? Is the road to becoming a scientist what you thought it would be?
Do you think these scientists are still excited about the work they do?

Mentors: Comment back on student responses, and also discuss what it took to get to
your current position.

You will need to have Shockwave loaded on your computer. It is freeware, and can be
downloaded from the site you will be visiting.

Explore the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. There are many places for you to investigate,
and you should feel free to view the animations and visit the museum anytime you want.

Click on the Virtual Labs link and then on the Bacterial ID Lab link. Complete the Bacterial ID
lab and identify the bacteria using DNA sampling techniques.

Discuss with your partner what you thought of the procedure. Did you understand why each step
was done? Where could you find more information on this subject?

You will need to have Shockwave loaded on your computer.

Once again visit the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Click on the Virtual Labs link and
then on the Neurophysiology Lab link.

Determine and discuss with your partner:

Why was the leech selected as the specimen for this dissection?
What did you learn about the nervous system?
Where could you find out more about what a neurophysiologist does?

You will need to have Shockwave loaded on your computer.

Let's go again to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Click on the Virtual Labs link and
then on the ELISA Assay Lab link. Complete the ELISA Assay lab.

Discuss with your partner:

What does ELISA stand for?
Why did you do this lab?
How has this technology helped improve medicine?