Day 1: Mini-Med School

Welcome to Mini Med School. Today you're learning to observe.

Before any doctor, nurse, EMT, or PA can diagnose a patient, they have to look, listen, and measure. You're going to do all three today using the same tools real clinicians use every shift — and tomorrow, you'll act on what you find.

⏱ How today works

4 stations. 4 skills. About 12 minutes at each. You'll rotate through every station with your group. When you hear the signal, finish your current reading and move to the next station.

Find a partner at every station. You'll take turns being the clinician and the patient. Record what you find on your 📋 Vitals Log Card — you keep it at the end.

❤️ Station 1 — Pulse Oximeter & Heart Rate

A pulse oximeter measures two things at once: how fast your heart is beating (BPM) and how much oxygen is in your blood (SpO₂). It does this by shining red and infrared light through your finger and reading how much each color gets absorbed.

Healthy oxygen saturation is usually 95–100%. Resting heart rate for teens is usually 60–100 BPM.

Instructions
Part I: Get a resting reading
Materials at this station
  • Pulse oximeters
  • Alcohol wipes (clean the device between users)
  • Your Vitals Log Card
  1. Wipe the oximeter with an alcohol wipe.
  2. Clip it onto your index finger, nail side up. Sit still and breathe normally.
  3. Wait 10–15 seconds for the numbers to stabilize.
  4. Record your SpO₂ and BPM on your Vitals Log Card.
Instructions
Part II: Stress the system
Challenge: Do 30 jumping jacks. Sit back down. Re-clip the oximeter and watch what happens to your numbers over 60 seconds.

On your Vitals Log Card, record your peak BPM and how long it took to get back to your resting rate.

Stretch question: Why does your SpO₂ usually stay stable even when your heart rate doubles?

🩺 Station 2 — Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the force your heart uses to push blood through your arteries. Two numbers: the top (systolic) is the pressure when your heart contracts. The bottom (diastolic) is the pressure between beats.

A typical reading looks like 120/80. This is the hardest station — manual BP takes practice. Don't expect to be perfect on your first try.

⚠ Heads up: The instructor demoed this at the start. Refer back to that demo, and call an advisor over if you need help — there's one stationed nearby.

📹 Watch the technique

Instructions
Part I: Position the cuff
Materials at this station
  • 7 manual BP cuffs (sphygmomanometers)
  • 7 stethoscopes
  • Alcohol wipes
  1. Your partner sits with their arm resting flat on the table, palm up.
  2. Wrap the cuff around their upper arm, about 1 inch above the elbow crease. The "INDEX" arrow on the cuff should fall within the line marked on the cuff.
  3. Place the stethoscope earpieces in your ears, pointing slightly forward.
  4. Place the stethoscope head on the inside of their elbow, just below the cuff.
Instructions
Part II: Take the reading
  1. Close the valve on the pump (turn the small screw clockwise).
  2. Pump the bulb until the gauge reads about 160 mmHg.
  3. Slowly open the valve so the gauge falls about 2–3 mmHg per second.
  4. Listen carefully. The number on the gauge when you first hear a thumping sound = systolic (top number).
  5. The number when the thumping disappears = diastolic (bottom number).
  6. Fully open the valve, remove the cuff, and record on your Vitals Log Card.

Swap roles and try it again. If you don't get a clear reading, that's normal — note what you heard and move on.

🫁 Station 3 — Stethoscope: Heart, Lungs, Gut

Stethoscopes amplify sound. Different parts of the body make different sounds — and clinicians learn what's normal so they can recognize when something isn't.

You're going to listen to three different body sounds on your partner and try to identify each one.

📹 Watch the technique

📹 Watch the technique

Instructions
Part I: Three listening points
Materials at this station
  • Stethoscopes
  • Alcohol wipes (clean the earpieces and chest piece between users)

Put the earpieces in your ears, pointing slightly forward. Listen to your partner at each of these three spots for about 15 seconds:

  1. Heart — left side of the chest, just below the collarbone. Listen for a steady lub-dub, lub-dub.
  2. Lungs — upper back, between the shoulder blades. Have your partner take a slow deep breath in and out. Listen to the whoosh.
  3. Gut — lower belly, a few inches below the belly button. Listen for gurgles and clicks.
Instructions
Part II: Describe what you heard

On your Vitals Log Card, write one short description of each sound. Loud? Soft? Fast? Slow? Whooshing? Rumbling? Steady?

Swap roles and listen to the same three spots on your partner.

Stretch: Have your partner do 20 jumping jacks. Listen to the heart again. How does the sound change?
🔦 Station 4 — Pen Light Exam

Pen lights are how clinicians do quick neurological and airway checks. Pupil response to light tells you about brain function. Throat inspection tells you about infection or irritation.

You're going to do two real exam techniques that nurses and doctors use every day.

Instructions
Part I: PERRLA — Pupil response
Materials at this station
  • Pen lights
  • Tongue depressors
  • Alcohol wipes

Clinicians check pupils using the acronym PERRLA — Pupils Equal, Round, Reactive to Light, and Accommodating.

  1. Have your partner look straight ahead at a point on the far wall.
  2. Dim the room around them with your hand if you need to.
  3. Hold the pen light off to the side. Sweep it across one eye — pause for 1 second — then sweep away.
  4. Watch the pupil. Does it shrink when the light hits, and expand back when it leaves?
  5. Repeat on the other eye.

On your Vitals Log Card, mark whether the pupils responded equally on both sides.

Instructions
Part II: Throat inspection
  1. Have your partner say "Ahhh" with their mouth wide open.
  2. Use a tongue depressor to gently press the front of their tongue down.
  3. Shine the pen light into the back of their throat. Look for: redness, white spots, swollen tonsils.
  4. Throw the tongue depressor away after — never reuse.

Swap roles. Record one observation about your partner's throat on your Vitals Log Card.

🩺 What's Next
Tomorrow you act

Today you observed — vitals, listening, looking. Tomorrow you do the things real clinicians do: chest compressions, sutures, X-rays, anatomy. Same room. Same group. Different intensity.

🎓 Careers that use these skills every day

Nurses (2-4 year degree) · EMTs & Paramedics (3-month to 2-year certificate) · Medical Assistants (1-year certificate) · Physician Assistants (Master's degree) · Physicians (Doctoral degree, 4 years undergrad + 4 years med school + residency) · Public Health Workers (Bachelor's or Master's)

Every one of these careers starts with the same four skills you practiced today.

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