Local Student receives a prescription for success

Written by Administrator

Friday, 24 July 2009 08:24

A Birmingham teenager who dreams of becoming a brain surgeon is about to take a giant step towards her future.

Fifteen-year-old Crystal Smitherman, an 11th grader at Ramsay High School, has been selected to participate in a program that immerses students in the medical profession. LeadAmerica sponsors the Congressional Student Leadership Conference (CSLC) on Medicine and Healthcare. Participants must have excellent grades and demonstrate strong leadership qualities. Crystal fits both criteria.
She has a 4.5 GPA, is a championship level golfer, will attend both the Math & Science Academy at Miles College and UAB science program this summer in addition to the prestigious leadership training. She also volunteers at Children’s Hospital. When she learned she had been selected for the invitation only leadership experience, she “was very happy because this is a great opportunity.” Especially so since Crystal aspires to become a doctor, motivated by a family tragedy and also by her contact with a patient at Children’s Hospital.
She is scheduled to leave home on July 25, for the leadership program, which places students in the roles of healthcare professionals. During the time she is there, Crystal and the other student participants will learn to manage a patient’s case, making healthcare decisions based on medical facts. They will work with cutting-edge robotic simulators that look and respond like real patients. They also will participate in a simulation with medical actors playing the roles of patients with unidentified illnesses.
The Congressional Student Leadership Conference (CSLC) on Medicine and Healthcare involves leading medical schools including Georgetown University School of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. Crystal has been assigned to Georgetown University and will live in Washington D.C. for 10 days, learning about medicine in an intense environment.
Crystal is undecided about where she will attend college but is giving this decision careful thought. Her list includes Auburn, Brown, Howard and University of Georgia. She plans to major in pre-med with an emphasis in biology. Wherever she enrolls, this summer’s experience will be an advantage. The leadership program is college accredited.
Crystal Smitherman is the daughter of Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Rodger Smitherman and Birmingham City Council President Carole Smitherman.