Students Hear From Surgeons

The world watched with tears in their eyes as entertainer Jimmy Kimmel told the miraculous story of his newborn son and the life-saving heart surgery he had at Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles.

The expert that talked to students of Hebrew Academy of Orange County, CA, himself a parent at the school, was right there at the complicated surgery.

At the same time, the upper school at the Hebrew Academy watched an amazing film, A Heartbeat Away, the story of an Israeli pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Akiva Tamir, sent to Africa to perform lifesaving operations in Tanzania, where every day five children die from heart conditions.

The video was presented by Dr. Brandy Hattendorf, a mother at The Hebrew Academy, and leading pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles.

A student writes: “It was so inspirational. It showed us how much we should appreciate living a healthy life everyday. The kids in the video had many life threatening heart diseases. Without the amazing heart surgeons, they would all have not lived. These surgeons take their precious time to travel and provide people with a chance to live. During their vacations, they go to hospitals to help kids. Dr. Hattendorf was an amazing speaker, and I really want to see more programs like this.”

The Hebrew Academy’s science program focuses on STEM education, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In hands-on activities that increase learning, the girls have dissected animal hearts while learning about heart functions and heart disease.

While studying other body functions, The Hebrew Academy girls were able to visit a prestigious medical university, University of California, Irvine. A medical school professor spoke to the group of high school students about some of the latest technology being used and the new scientific, technologic and medical advances that UCI is making every single day. They were then provided with medical scrubs and proceeded into the Surgical Education Lab.

The girls tested the da Vinci, a new robotically engineered machine that allows for more efficient, less invasive surgeries. The girls learned how to place a suture including one-handed knots. After learning these skills each student was able to use training equipment for performing laparoscopy and endoscopy. Using the scopes the girls performed various agility tasks and tied sutures while watching their actions on a computer screen. The girls also removed ‘polyps’ from bell peppers.

At Hebrew Academy students are exposed to a rich Jewish studies program in a chassidic atmosphere together with a rigorous program in general studies that opens up many fields of pursuits for our students in the future. With comfortable dormitory living girls come from all over North America to benefit from the comprehensive educational program at the Hebrew Academy.