Indigenous Students Gain Hands-on Look at Health Care
August 5, 2025 | Repost from medicine.buffalo.edu
Pictured above: From left, medical student volunteers Maeanna Merrill and Humberto Molina, and event co-founders Amanda Bahgat and Frank Wolfe.
Indigenous middle school, high school and college students got a varied and detailed hands-on look at health care careers during the third annual 7th Generation Operation event at the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences – University at Buffalo on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.
Presented by the Jacobs School and the Seneca Nation Education Department, the event hosted 64 students, the majority of whose tribal heritage is the Seneca Nation. Other tribal heritages represented were Chippewa, Onondaga and Tuscarora.
Students rotated through several hands-on workshops. Activities included learning how to suture and draw blood, performing intubation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, using surgical tools and performing ultrasound imaging. The students learned about opportunities in areas including medicine, physical assistant studies, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, athletic training, physical and occupational therapy, speech and language pathology, audiology, public health and social work.
Fourth-year medical student Amanda Bahgat co-founded the event with Frank Wolfe, an undergraduate student in the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, who is a member of the Seneca Nation, Beaver Clan.
Find out how the event sparked students’ curiosity about health care careers and helped them see a place for themselves in health care fields: http://ms.spr.ly/6188sMtK6.
