LIVE FROM SURGERY

Via high definition video conferencing, this unique program allows students to stand next to surgeons in their operating suites and converse with them while they perform complex surgeries, including cardiac bypass, neurosurgeries, kidney transplants and fetal surgeries. In addition students are also introduced to all the member of the surgical team and exposed to potential career opportunities in medicine from surgery to biotechnology. Each year LSC offers over 180 surgeries seen by over 9,000 students.

Some of the best medical centers in the region help us bring the Live From Surgery experience to LSC.

• Morristown Medical Center: Cardiac Classroom

• Overlook Hospital: Neurosurgery • RWJBarnabas Health: Kidney Transplant • Hackensack Meridian UMC: Robotic Surgery • Newark Beth Israel Medical Center: Heart Transplant/VAD • Advocare the Orthopedic Center in Affiliation with Morristown

Medical Center, Overlook Hospital: Pediatric Orthopedic • The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood

Johnson University Hospital: Neonatal

STUART R. GEFFNER, MD, MS-HCM, FACS

Chairman, Surgeon-in-Chief and Director of Renal and Pancreas Transplant Surgery Saint Barnabas Medical Center Livingston, New Jersey

When Liberty Science Center approached the Sharing Network about adding organ transplants to its Live From Surgery program, the Network asked Dr. Stuart Geffner to figure out how that could be accomplished. The results have been spectacular. “I have done a lot of significant things in my career,” says Dr. Geffner,” but one of the most meaningful has been the ability to introduce young people to the miracle of transplantation through the Live From Surgery program. Students come to LSC and watch a live feed as a living donor kidney transplant is performed. Over the course of two hours, they observe the laparoscopic removal of the donor kidney and its implantation into the recipient.” They can ask questions of the entire operating room staff and handle some of the devices used during the procedure. Dr. Geffner remarks, “As we talk, students learn about medical careers, organ donation, and healthy lifestyles to help them avoid future medical problems. The middle schoolers are my favorite. They have fewer inhibitions than older students and ask very direct questions. The Science Center’s Live From Surgery program is tremendously impactful and I’m proud to have helped build the program over the past 15 years.”

JOE SWEENEY

Middle School Science Specialist PS 11, Queens, New York

“Live From Surgery changes entire families,” says Joe Sweeney. Mr Sweeney takes his fifth graders from Queens, NY to Liberty Science Center to watch heart surgery via teleconference. “The medical staff talks about careers in medicine but they also explain risk factors for cardiac disease and those discussions hit home in this multicultural neighborhood. Children leave LSC understanding more about healthy lifestyles and they urge their parents to slim down and adopt a better diet. Some of my students have chosen to go into healthcare thanks to Live From Surgery, which is great, but the program also has a wide influence on my students’ family health.

BERNADETTE JACOBI

High School Science Teacher Clark, New Jersey

Bernadette Jacobi is passionate about preparing high schoolers for careers in medicine. “About 90% of the students in my advanced pre-med class go on to healthcare professions,” she explains. Ms. Jacobi takes her students to participate in the Live From Surgery program because it brings classroom lessons to life. “I teach the academic side of medicine but watching live surgery and talking to the OR staff is a powerful experience,” she says. “We have attended several different Live From Surgery programs but the most important is watching kidney transplants. Students learn about organ donation but also about improving their lifestyle choices and encouraging their families to do the same. It’s a real eye-opener!”