Having a guest speaker at the campus is something that the staff, faculty, and students at Ross Medical Education Center in Johnson City, Tennessee always look forward to. It’s exciting to have members in the local community that are making a difference and committed to promoting healthcare education in their area.
Recently, the students in the Medical Assistant program in Johnson City had the opportunity to welcome and hear from Meredith Haga, a guest speaker from Donate Life Tennessee. Meredith spoke to the students about organ donation and shared her personal story of being a donor. Both instructors and students were fascinated by all that she had to share.
Donate Life Tennessee is an organization that strives to save people’s lives. According to Meredith, one organ donation could save the lives of up to eight people, and one tissue donation has the potential to enhance the lives of another 50 people. To really convey the importance of donation and what exactly Donate Life does, Meredith also brought samples to show the students. She was able to show them samples of skin, eye, and bone donations. She also passed out Donate Life Tennessee bracelets and pens for all students to help them spread the word in their community.
This was a great experience for the Medical Assistant students to get a real-life understanding of everything that is involved in organ donation as well as the incredible impact that being an organ donor can have on individuals and their families. “Meredith’s story was very inspiring,” shared Brandi Cole, current Medical Assistant student. “It made me realize to not take the little things in life for granted.” Kim Rock, a Medical Assistant Instructor, agreed, “Meredith’s organ donation presentation made me realize how precious and valuable life is.” Finally, students were blown away by the impact that organ and tissue donation can have. “Organ donation is very important and could help save lives by just one donation,” said Heather McCravey, a Medical Assistant student, after participating in Meredith’s presentation.
Overall, the entire campus was very impressed by Meredith’s presentation and all the work being done by Donate Life Tennessee. They look forward to the next visit by this incredible organization in their area. To find out more about them, visit the Donate Life Tennessee Facebook page or their website at www.donatelifetn.org.