Introducing Biomedical Studies in Education at a pre-college level: The launch of Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth Greece

The Center for Talented Youth (CTY) was founded in 1979 at Johns Hopkins University and originally aimed at recognizing and educating students with a special flair in mathematics. It soon expanded its activities in different areas, involving students with broader academic skills. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation envisioned on the need to establish a relevant Center in Greece and decided to fund this venture. During the summer of 2014 the first Residential Summer Camp of CTY Greece was held in Greece. One of the six courses offered was Introduction to Biomedical Sciences. The course was designed to give students an opportunity to learn about the human body’s anatomy and physiology and their role in maintaining homeostasis. Throughout the course, interactive lectures, case studies, game-based learning, inquiry-based labs and dissections allowed students to develop their skills on problem solving, scientific thinking, decision making, and teamwork. At the same time they were introduced to emerging issues that doctors face in different fields of Medicine such as Pathology, Cardiology, Epidemiology and Microbiology. Innovative tools in informatics such as online educational games, high quality real life videos, simulations and databases were used. This approach significantly enhanced experiential learning and enabled them to work in groups of students with different cognitive level since participants in the CTY Program were between 12 to 16 years old. By the end of the course, students were able to acquire an understanding of major concepts in medicine and to relate the structure and function of the human body. This was assessed by comparing a pre-assessment given at the beginning and a post-assessment test given at the end of the course. In 2015 two new biomedical courses were offered by CTY: Sensory Brain and Genetics.