Boyle students watch live surgery

03/19/09

DANVILLE Twenty Boyle County High School students watched Wednesday as Dr. Scott Roth, a surgeon at the University of Kentucky, made an incision in the abdomen of a middle-aged man who had a groin hernia in need of repair. There were a few "eews" as a camera inserted inside the man's body began showing the brick red of his muscles, the bright red of small blood vessels and the yellow of fat deposits. But mostly, the students, all part of a medical science class, watched in an enthralled silence as Roth talked about what he was doing. The idea behind live surgery, which more than 200 high school students across the state watched Wednesday morning, is to get the students excited about health-related careers, said Rob Sprang, director of Kentucky TeleCare. The program broadcast the surgery from UK Chandler Hospital to high schools and community colleges around the state. Students watched and listened via videoconferencing and were able to ask questions of Roth. Sprang hopes the surgery will inspire students who think chemistry, biology and math are dull and boring.