UT Southwestern medIDEAS, a science education and community engagement initiative, hosted six information stations on Saturday, Dec. 3 at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science’s Community Day 2022, one of the museum’s 10th anniversary events, as part of an inspiring and fun day of community building, learning, and outreach. UTSW partners with the Perot Museum to provide the community with STEM education and inspiration.

UT Southwestern is a frequent collaborator in STEM education and outreach. It was a fun day of STEM learning on Dec. 3 as part of the Perot Museum’s 10th anniversary Community Day.

More than 50 UT Southwestern medIDEAS volunteers shared with museum guests about:

• Wellness with Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: helping your body recover from injury or soreness
• Brain neurons with the Autism Center
• Mental health and brain development with the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care
• Concussion symptoms and care with the North Texas Concussion Registry (ConTEX)
• Brain development and language learning from the lab of Todd Roberts, Ph.D.
• Emergency pediatric care from the Pediatric Residency Program’s “Teddy Bear Clinic”

Teddy Bear Clinic

The star of the “show” was the UTSW teddy bear with a custom scarf, ready to receive treatment.

The Teddy Bear Clinic, created and hosted by the UTSW Pediatric Residency program, was the largest of six information stations hosted by UT Southwestern at the Dec. 3 Perot Community Day event. The clinic represented an opportunity to present a health care hospital experience for kids in a friendly, fun, age-appropriate setting. Each participant was presented with their own teddy bear to walk through six medical stations to learn about pediatric emergency medical care.

Teddy Bear Clinic gallery

Several hundred kids and families participated in the UTSW Teddy Bear Clinic to learn about health care basics from more than 20 UTSW Pediatrics residents.

A young guest learns how to take a temperature with help from a UTSW Pediatrics resident.

A Pediatrics resident helps tape up an injured arm of a guest’s teddy bear.

Three of the Teddy Bear Clinic stations are pictured above.

Teddy bear clinic stations included Intake, Triage, Doctor, Lab, X-Rays, and Casts. Staff at the clinic greeted guests in the main lobby of the Perot Museum. Hundreds of children and adults passed through the clinic in five hours.

A happy museum guest gets a UTSW teddy bear at the Intake desk.

Members of the Teddy Bear Clinic team pose for a group photo before the museum opens.

Linda Silver, Ed.D., Eugene McDermott Chief Executive Officer of the Perot Museum, (left) poses for a photo with Pamela J. Okada, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Program Director for the Pediatric Residency Program at UT Southwestern. Dr. Okada also serves on the Perot Museum’s Board of Directors.

 

 

Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute Information Stations:

Concussion Research and Care with ConTex

From left: Ingrid Tamez, B.A., Clinical Research Assistant; Cason Hicks, M.S., Clinical Research Coordinator; and Stephen Bunt, Ed.D., Clinical Research Coordinator, pose for a photo.

The UTSW ConTex study team promoted concussion awareness and information next to the entrance to the Perot Museum Sports Hall. The study is designed to capture comprehensive longitudinal data on sports-related concussions and other mild traumatic brain injuries across the life span, with an emphasis on adolescent sport-related injuries.

Members of the ConTex team talk with Perot Museum guests about concussions.

Autism Care and Mental Health Care

Volunteers answer questions from families at one of the five O’Donnell Brain Institute information stations.

Volunteers from the UT Southwestern and Children’s Health℠ Center for Autism Care and the UT Southwestern Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care (CDRC) talked to parents and kids about healthy brains, how brains work, and the basics of mental health. These stations were located near the Brain exhibit, which was facilitated by UT Southwestern, in the Being Human Hall that also features several other UT Southwestern contributions to exhibits.

CDRC team members gather for a group photo before the museum opens. From left: Clinical Research Coordinators Sarah Gibson and Mayra Ramos; faculty members Cherise Chin Fatt, Ph.D. and Jane Foster, Ph.D.; and Manager of Public Education and Outreach Harmony Hilton.

Birds, Brains, and Language Development

The Roberts Lab studies brain development and language learning with a focus on the brain circuits involved in song learning. Staffing the booth are Rahulraj Mishra (left) and Carlos Orozco, graduate students who work in the lab. Not pictured: Dr. Todd Roberts and graduate student Harshida Pancholi.

Wellness with Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

From left: PM&R fellow Kegan Cunniff, M.D., faculty member Juan Cabrera, M.D., and Chair of PM&R Heakyung Kim, M.D., pose for a photo.

The Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) information station welcomed guests outside the museum, sharing information about wellness and how to help recover from injury or soreness.

UTSW staff talk to guests about wellness at the PM&R table.

UTSW Volunteers Help at Perot Community Day

EAC volunteer Taylor Grant-Gates, GME Coordinator for the Department of Surgery, takes a photo with PM&R fellow Kegan Cunniff, M.D., at the beginning of the day while staffing the PM&R information station.

Past and present members of the UTSW Employee Advisory Council (EAC) volunteered with event setup and teardown and supported the information stations throughout the day.

Pictured is a bird’s-eye view of the UT Southwestern PM&R table on the plaza at the museum.