By Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com

The public came away highly impressed from a tour of the new Health Occupations and Pre-Med Science lab at Brighton High School last week.

Upwards of 200 people attended the event. Brighton Board of Education President Roger Myers could hardly contain his enthusiasm for the facility, calling it "state-of-the-art," and expressed his thanks to the community for the financial support which made the lab possible.

Breille Haupt is a family nurse practitioner and the instructor in the Health Occs and Pre-Med Science program at BHS. Haupt tells WHMI that, in her opinion, the lab is one of the top facilities of its type in the nation - whether at the high school or collegiate level.

One novel aspect of the lab is its two "mannequins" — also state-of-the-art — that converse just like humans. They also breathe, move about on command, do IVs and injections and, believe it or not, even have the ability to vomit….all in the interest of science and instructing students. According to Haupt, the mannequins are designed to communicate and interact as if actual patients.

Another cutting-edge feature of the lab is an Anatomage table (https://anatomage.com) — an assistive robotic table which can dissect real human tissue, performing cuts and incisions. Haupt says the device is designed for students to understand basic anatomy and be able to develop a prognosis for patients under a variety of conditions.

The Health Occs and Pre-Med lab opened in February - just in time for the start of the second semester — with 75 students. Over 80 students have signed up for the course next fall, which is actually over capacity — an indication that interest in the course is very keen. Haupt says it tells her that many Brighton High School students are attracted to a career in nursing, becoming a doctor, veterinarian, physician assistant, or any one of a variety of health care-related fields.

The roughly $1 million lab was financed through the $59 million bond issue passed by the voters in 2019.

Photos - #1 - Instructor Breille Haupt with a group of students, getting readings from the state-of-the-art Anatomage,which gives the viewer a 3-D view of the interior anatomy of a human figure.

Photo #2 - Students taking a blood pressure reading from a smart "mannequin" - a computerized machine which can talk, breathe, move about, be given IV fluids and injections and even regurgitate.

Photo #3 - A student using an instrument to get a close-up view of the mock patient's ear drum.