On Tuesday, October 7, the Mind & Medicine Club at Bridgewater-Raritan High School, which is focused on neuroscience and psychology, held its introductory meeting for interested students, outlining their goals for the upcoming year.
Mind & Medicine is a club for students interested in medicine who want to learn about the unique aspects of neuroscience, such as common brain diseases and psychology. In fact, numerous opportunities are given to allow members to explore their interests.
Senior Ananya Gupta, one of the co-presidents of the club, expressed her thoughts on the appeal of the club.
“I think Mind & Medicine is amazing for students interested in medicine or biology by giving them a specific area of interest that they can truly explore with hands-on events. We’re excited to get the members’ names out there through publications and research opportunities!”
The club’s objectives include providing more research opportunities for high schoolers at BRHS, specifically publishing regular literature reviews on the Mind & Medicine club blog. Club members are also given the chance to have their research submitted to research journals such as Nature Neuroscience, Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, and ScienceDirect.
Volunteering is also offered at the club, including assisting at the Adler Aphasia Center, and engaging in weekly 30-minute Zoom sessions with the patients at the Center to support their rehabilitation journey.
Senior Vivian Chen, the other co-President of Mind & Medicine, further elaborated on their goals for the school year.
“Our goals for this year are to give more research opportunities and get more hands-on experiences. An improvement from last year would be to have more involvement and opportunities for members!”
They look forward to having club members gain experience from hands-on labs, such as brain dissections, to deepen their understanding of neuroscience and medicine.
Officers informed the members of future events planned for the upcoming year, including bringing Shai Anbar, the author of Goddess Aphasia, as a guest speaker. More labs, such as a muscle spiker lab that demonstrates the electrical signals of muscles during movement, will also be introduced. The club will also host more bake sales and fundraisers to support local medical causes.
A major event that students can participate in through the club is also the Brain Bee, a neuroscience competition that tests their knowledge of the brain, nervous system, and related diseases. Participants can not only participate in various events, but may also have the opportunity to gain insight about neuroscience by conversing with professors to pursue scholarships and additional research.
Currently, the club is offering executive positions such as secretary, website manager, treasurer, and social media manager. For any questions or concerns, please email the club officers or the advisor, Ms. Holt ([email protected]). Mind & Medicine at BRHS meets after school every other Tuesday in Room 414. For regular updates, join the club’s Google Classroom using the code: fhvhqri.
