'Like it was a video game': Students try their hands at medical robots during Westmoreland Mall event

Textbooks and tests can help students understand the medical field only to a certain extent. On Thursday, Excela Health put surgical equipment into students’ hands.

Dozens of high school and middle school students piled into the Westmoreland Mallin Hempfield to test out medical robots and learn about the dangers of lung cancer. The students were joined by Excela surgeons and other medical experts during the daylong event.

“It’s nice for them to see what’s actually happening in the field versus the diagrams we show them in textbooks,” said Jennifer LeVan, an anatomy teacher at Greater Latrobe Senior High School. “This is showing them where health care is right now and what they’ll actually be doing (if they enter the field).”

Students from Greater Latrobe, Derry, Norwin and Greensburg Central Catholic lined up outside of the Old Navy to try out two medical robots, Da Vinci XI and Monarch. Excela also provided opportunities for students to test their lung strength and use non-robotic surgical tools.

The Da Vinci XI robot allows surgeons to use hand movements to control the machine, which can complete complex surgeries with small incisions.

About 90% of lung cancer surgeries at Excela use this technology, Excela thoracic surgeon Michael Szwerc said. The nonprofit health organization has two of the robots at Latrobe Hospital and one at Westmoreland Hospital.

With the Monarch robot, surgeons use a reverse-engineered Xbox video game controller to move a camera throughout the lungs to detect cancer. This is a game changer in the medical world, as lung cancer is typically diagnosed late stage, resulting in more deaths.

“The fact that you’re able to control (the camera) like it was a video game was really interesting,” Latrobe junior Bridget McHugh said.

While the technology is used for detection-related purposes, medical experts hope to someday use the robot to also treat cancer.

This “new, groundbreaking” robot is available at Latrobe Hospital, said Darin Kowalski, an account manager for Auris Health, developer of the robot.

“We’re hoping some of these kids can discover a passion for medicine,” Kowalski said. “I think it’s important they see this cool technology is available, and they have access to it.”

Piquing student interest was a theme that rang throughout the event. Asset management company Mercer projects that the demand for health care workers will outpace supply by 2025.

Trisha Brunazzi, a teacher at Norwin, said the event expanded the possibilities for her fifth and sixth graders.

“This is opening their eyes to the world of health care that they don’t even know about yet,” Brunazzi said. “Instead of reading about this stuff, they’re doing it.”

Because the event focused on lung cancer, medical experts also cautioned students against smoking and vaping. In 2022, 16.5% of high schoolers and 4.5% of middle schoolers reported using a tobacco product in the past 30 days, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Excela thoracic surgeon Brian Lace urged students to tell their friends and family members to stop smoking and vaping.

“The best way that we can prevent lung cancer is to prevent people from smoking,” Lace said.