Law and medicine draw interest of PJPII senior

By Sarah Homburg
Pope John Paul II student

Did I have a jam-packed summer!

From June 26-July 2, I had the amazing opportunity to live on Vanderbilt University’s campus in Nashville and take “An Introduction to Legal Studies” as part of Vanderbilt’s Summer Academy. This academy tries to develop academically advanced students.

The course, which ran six hours a day, explored various legal topics such as statutory interpretation, contracts, property law and criminal law. My professor, classmates and I tackled these challenging topics at a quick pace through lectures, partner and group work and briefing a case on our own.

At week’s end, the class was split into a prosecution team and a defense team, and we held a mock trial at Belmont University’s courtroom.

It was a fun, but difficult, challenge to create opening and closing statements, direct examination questions and cross-examination questions in a short period of time. But, it was worth the effort. I was a part of the prosecution team, and we won!

Outside of the classroom, I enjoyed meeting driven, intelligent and diverse students from around the U.S. and even the world. It was amazing to meet students of various backgrounds with different passions and talents. Despite our differences, every student was supportive of each other.

We had fun nighttime activities such as music class, beach volleyball, scavenger hunts and board games that enabled us to meet people outside of our proctor groups and classes. Participants also spent two nights together eating dinner  and shopping in Nashville.

I left the camp with more knowledge, new friends, a new perspective and an experience I will never forget.

When I returned home, I then traveled to Hendersonville, Tennessee, to complete a summer internship July 9-27 with Dr. Chad Swan, a PJPII  alum who chooses one rising senior each year to shadow him as a cardio-thoracic surgeon.

I lived with the family of a  student from Pope John Paul Preparatory School in Hendersonville who was also selected to shadow Dr. Swan as he worked at TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center and Swan Surgical. The student and I became quick friends and plan to stay in touch.

We saw Dr. Swan as he met with patients and their families in the clinic, the catheterization laboratory (referred to as the “Cath Lab”), operating room and ICU, observing him perform stent placements, inferior vena cava (IVC) placements, bypass surgeries, various vein procedures, chest tube placements and a thoracotomy.

Not only was it fascinating to see a typical day in the life of a cardio, thoracic and vascular surgeon, but I also gained a better idea of how the field of medicine operates.  It was incredible to see how many important roles there are in medicine – from simple procedures to the most complex. This opened my eyes to the variety of professions within the medical field and showed me how Dr. Swan and other professionals display compassion, understanding and honesty while interacting with patients and families.

While I am not sure of my college plans, these summer experiences furthered my desire to get out of my comfort zone and seek new places and adventures. It also opened my eyes to a variety of careers, especially within medicine.

While I am interested in medicine, particularly orthopedics, I would love to explore how the two things I studied this summer – law and medicine – might intersect. Seeing how law, ethics and medicine are intertwined is fascinating, so health law is also a field I might pursue.

Sarah Homburg, a senior on the soccer team, is president of PJP’s Catholic Relief Services club and participates in Catholic Athletes for Christ, Global Jags, art, math and history clubs. She is a student ambassador, National Honor Society, H.O.S.A. and 30+ Club member.  She aspires to study pre-med and possibly be an orthopedic surgeon. “Truly embrace your time in high school. Reach out to your teachers and mentors and get involved,” she advises classmates.