Most people don’t hear about nuclear medicine or radiation therapy until they tackle physics in high school or at university, but students in the Wollongong Academically Gifted class have been given a head start.
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Yesterday the talented year5 and 6 students visited Wollongong Hospital to learn about radiation therapy, medical imaging and nuclear medicine, capping their unit on atoms and the universe.
Their lessons have included lectures on the structure of the atom and the modern uses of atomic science, as well as an excursion to the ANSTO reactor at Lucas Heights.
Although the material is challenging, the 31 primary school students were up for it, program co-ordinator Chester Meurant said.
‘‘It’s challenging and involves a lot of theoretical issues students normally wouldn’t encounter until high school, but they’re more than capable of dealing with them,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s vital with these students that they have time out of the classroom. It’s not sufficient to deal with modern technological issues in theoretical terms. Coming here today is a practical realisation of everything they’ve learnt about. It’s serious stuff, but they can handle it.’’
Their hospital trip included presentations by hospital staff on the different units, as well as a chance to check out some of the equipment they had learnt about.
Mr Meurant said the excursion might also ignite further study in medicine or science, and some students already aspired to become nurses or vets.
‘‘The thing with gifted students is it’s really good at this stage for them to have an indication of where they might go with their career when they mature,’’ he said.
Year 5 student Mia Thompson said the unit was challenging, but it had been interesting to learn about a topic she wouldn’t normally study.
Her classmate Georgia Deen agreed: ‘‘It’s really great, we get to go on so many excursions and learn information first hand.’’
The Wollongong Academically Gifted program runs weekly as an extension class for year 5 and 6 students from across the Illawarra. This year 230 students applied for 31 positions.