ROOTSTOWN, Ohio — Ninth-graders Sean Fejes and Devan Mathie huddled over their solar grills intently listening for a sizzle as clouds gathered overhead.
Earlier in the day, the two 15-year-old students and other classmates at Bio-Med Science Academy in Rootstown used quadratic equations to construct U-shaped cardboard troughs lined with aluminum foil. The formulas helped the ninth-graders determine where the strongest light rays would hit the grill under the noon sun.
"If we get it right and put the hot dog at the focal point, it will cook," Sean explained.
Just as students began seeing signs of heat, rain fell.
But Bio-Med Director Stephanie Lammlein said the lesson wasn't dampened. Hands-on learning that combines different subjects (in this case math and engineering) with a practical spin (cooking a hot dog) helps students grasp concepts and become critical thinkers, she said.
Lammlein said the school's location on the Northeast Ohio Medical University campus is key to bringing opportunity to rural students who may be interested in pursuing careers in science and medicine. The year-round public high school was granted STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) designation in April by the state.
Administrators also hope students will consider returning to their rural towns to work and live once they complete their college degrees and professional training.
"We want them to have a sense of community. That gets lost a lot. We want them to know that it's OK to go away, but it's also OK to come back and give back," Lammlein said.
There is a shortage of physicians and other medical providers in the U.S. -- especially in rural and urban areas, said Erik Porfeli, assistant dean for community engagement and admissions at NEOMED.
Currently, the U.S. needs about 13,700 more physicians to care for people nationwide. That number is predicted to more than double in two years as doctors continue to retire.
"When you look at the shortage by neighborhoods, you find that certain communities have an oversupply of medical professionals while others have an undersupply," he said. Medically underserved areas often are economically depressed and don't have the money to easily attract medical professionals.
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, doctors are more likely to work in rural areas if they come from rural backgrounds and their training includes exposure to rural medicine. Studies also show that doctors from urban areas are more likely to return to the inner city to practice medicine.
NEOMED has a number of programs to not only get middle- and high-school students interested in science-related careers -- medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, nursing and more -- but also to help them realize that they have the capacity to return home and help their own community, said NEOMED's Gina Weisblat. NEOMED programs reach out to both rural and urban schools, said Weisblat, assistant professor of community and family medicine.
In one program -- Health Professions Affinity Communities -- student mentors from NEOMED's medical and pharmacy colleges worked with high school students on family and community awareness projects. One teen from Cleveland's John Hay High School focused on the prevalence of diabetes in the local population.
"The idea was to arm students with the science behind the treatment and prevention of diabetes and then ask them to address this health concern. The student went out to talk to parents, friends and family and spread the message," Weisblat said.
"They're taking on a new role in their community, allowing them to make positive changes in their own neighborhoods," she said. The idea is to change the notion from "success means leaving the neighborhood" to "success means returning home to be a leader who makes the community a better place."
Diverse spectrum of students
Kids don't have to be straight-A students to take part in these programs.
Lammlein said Bio-Med Science Academy, which accepted its first class of 62 ninth-graders in the summer of 2012, is open to any student in Ohio. At the start of the new school year, it will have students from 27 districts across five counties. Students are admitted only as incoming ninth-graders; 119 have been accepted for the next freshman class. Freshmen and sophomores together will be coming from 27 districts across five counties. The academy will add a class each year until it has a full four-year high school.
Students receive either busing or limited compensation for private transportation from their home school districts as dictated by state law.
There are no academic criteria for entrance, Lammlein said. All students who apply have an equal chance to be accepted. If there are more applicants than available spaces, students will be selected through a blind lottery.
"Our academic spectrum is very diverse," she said. Some students have special needs, some are top performers and others are right in the middle, she said. The desire to work hard, explore and achieve is highly valued here, she added.
Lammlein said all students follow the same curriculum each year during the three 11-week terms that are separated by two- or three-week breaks, depending on the season. Classes this year included biology, introduction to engineering, algebra, language arts, history, Mandarin Chinese and technology.
Bio-Med operates on public dollars that follow each student. NEOMED supports the high school with free space and utilities in addition to in-kind services such as accounting, IT and grants-management services. The school also gets compensation from business partnerships and grants. There are no textbooks; students access their learning materials through their own computers.
Lammlein said there are very few STEM schools in rural areas nationwide. She is unaware of another STEM school located on a medical university campus.
"What makes Bio-Med different is our integrated teaching, " she explained. "Students have to create projects and solve problems to prove that they understand the concepts."
Alexis Smith, 14, of Waterloo, was busy in the biology lab trying to infect a tomato plant with bacteria to study the progression of disease. "So far it looks kind of frosty," said Alexis, who wants to pursue a career in biology.
Some course work is based on current trends in medicine and technology such as the importance of nutrition in local communities; workings of the brain and heart; or how water influences daily life of people and the economy.
In addition to projects, there are traditional tests -- including end-of-course exams. "If they don't do well on a test, they have to take it over and over again until they master the concepts and get an acceptable grade. They're not allowed to get by with a 'D' ."
The goal, she said, is to have students who can solve complex problems and understand how health and scientific issues affect their community.
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