This afternoon, you’re the medical team. You’ll measure real vital signs, close a real wound, and meet the careers that do this for a living.
Your patient: Marco Torres
Age 45 · Construction Foreman
Why he’s here: Dizzy for 3 days · chest tightness climbing stairs · tingling in his left arm.
Background: Smokes half a pack a day · long hours, high stress · his father had a heart attack at 52 · his doctor recently flagged elevated blood sugar.
Part 1
Vital Signs
Work in pairs — one Patient, one Doctor, then switch. Rotate through all five stations. At three of them you’ll take three readings: at rest, right after 20 jumping jacks, and after 1 minute of recovery, so you can watch the body change.
1
Station 1 of 5
Stethoscope
Listen to the body. Watch how to hold and place the scope, learn the five spots where you can hear the heart, get healthy heart and lung sounds in your ear, then take your turn.
▶ How to use a stethoscope
▶ The 5 placement landmarks
▶ What healthy heart sounds like
▶ What healthy lungs sound like
The 5 listening spots (mnemonic: All Physicians Enjoy Treating Money)
Aortic — 2nd rib space, right of the breastbone
Pulmonic — 2nd rib space, left of the breastbone
Erb’s point — 3rd rib space, left side (both sounds together)
Tricuspid — 4th rib space, left of the breastbone
Mitral — 5th rib space, in line with the middle of the collarbone
Listen at each spot for a clear lub-dub. Then listen to the lungs, front and back, both sides — breaths should sound quiet and even. After 20 jumping jacks, listen again: what changed?
✎ Record it on your handout — you and your partner, so you can compare.
2
Station 2 of 5
Manual Blood Pressure
This station uses your stethoscope. Pump the cuff, then listen: the first thump you hear is the systolic number, and the point it fades out is the diastolic. Take three readings.
▶ How to take a manual blood pressure
✎ Record it on your handout — you and your partner, so you can compare.
3
Station 3 of 5
Automatic Blood Pressure
Now let the machine do it. Wrap the cuff, press start, and compare the automatic number to the manual one you took by hand. How close were they?
▶ How to use an automatic blood pressure cuff
✎ Record it on your handout — you and your partner, so you can compare.
4
Station 4 of 5
Pulse Oximetry + Temperature
Clip the pulse oximeter on a fingertip. It reads two things at once: SpO₂ (oxygen in the blood, normal 95–100%) and pulse (60–100 bpm at rest). Then take a forehead temperature (normal 97–99°F).
▶ How to use a pulse oximeter
✎ Record it on your handout — you and your partner, so you can compare.
5
Station 5 of 5
Neurological Assessment
Two quick checks on the nervous system — the same ones a doctor runs after a head injury or a stroke scare.
Pupils (PERRLA)
Are both pupils equal in size?
Shine a light: do they both shrink to it?
Move a finger near→far: do the eyes track and focus smoothly?
Reflex
Tap just below the kneecap with the reflex hammer. The lower leg should kick. Check both sides — they should match.
✎ Record it on your handout — you and your partner, so you can compare.
Extra time between stations? Watch a day in the life of a paramedic — the people who take these exact vital signs in the back of a moving ambulance.
▶ Bonus: a day in the life of a paramedic
Putting it together
Thinking Back on Marco
Now use what you measured. On your handout, answer:
What blood-pressure stage is Marco in? (Normal <120/80 · Elevated 120–129 · Stage 1 130–139/80–89 · Stage 2 ≥140/90 · Crisis ≥180/120)
Which of his vitals worries you most, and why?
Put his symptoms, his history, and the numbers together — what do you think is happening with Marco?
Marco’s actual ER vitals: BP 158/94 (normal <120/80) · HR 92 bpm (60–100) · SpO₂ 96% (95–100%) · pupils equal & reactive · reflexes normal both sides. His blood pressure is the red flag — combined with his symptoms and family history, this is a heart the care team would take seriously.
Part 2
Suturing Lab
Your patient: Sofia Reyes
Age 16
Sofia skateboards into a metal rail and opens a 5 cm cut on her right forearm, deep enough to see the fatty tissue underneath. She’s scared and her parents are watching. The window to close it cleanly, before infection sets in, is about 6 hours. You’re going to learn to close it.
Meet your kit — one per person
Needle driver — hold it like a pen; it grips the curved needle
Tissue forceps — steady the skin edge (never crush it)
Suture scissors — cut the tail after the knot; blunt tips, on purpose
Scalpel handle — for identification only today; no blade attached
4-0 nylon suture — a fine monofilament thread on a curved needle; this is what you practice with
Start here: the simple interrupted stitch
The workhorse stitch — one stitch, one knot, repeat. Aim for even spacing (about 5 mm apart), edges that just meet, and knots that lie flat.
▶ How to place a simple interrupted suture
✎ Record it on your handout — you and your partner, so you can compare.
The knot is the hard part — expect to rewatch this. Tying the instrument knot is the skill that takes the most practice. Almost nobody gets it on the first try, and that’s completely normal. Replay the video as many times as you need and keep practicing the throws until the square knot lies flat and holds.
▶ How to tie the instrument knot
Level up: the simple running suture
Once your interrupted stitches are solid, try the running suture — one continuous thread down the wound instead of separate knots. Watch how it’s done, then try it on your pad.
▶ How to place a simple running suture
Go further — no videos, that’s the challenge. Three more stitches are used every day in the OR: the vertical mattress, the horizontal mattress, and the subcuticular running suture. Find out what each one is for and see if you can figure it out on your pad.
What actually happened with Sofia: the attending used 3-0 nylon — nearly the same as the 4-0 in your kit — and placed five to seven evenly spaced stitches. But before the first stitch, the doctor explained every step and talked Sofia through her fear. The technical skill matters. So does the human skill.
Part 3
Medical Careers
You just did the hands-on work of a dozen medical careers. Now find the ones that fit you.
Use the career cards at your table. Sort them into the four groups, then pick the two that interest you most and read them closely: what training does each need, and what’s the first step you could take while you’re still in high school?
The four groups
Robotics & Tech Experts — build the machines medicine runs on
High-Stakes Specialists — think fast when seconds count
Lab Detectives — find the answer hidden in the data
Patient Champions — walk with people through the hardest days
Last question, on your handout: Which part of Mini Med School was most interesting to you, and why?
WOVEN LEARNING & TECHNOLOGYCentral College UB · Mini Med School
