Our Community

Outreach and engagement are a fundamental pillars of our work

Our Impact

The Department of Physiology frequently organizes outreach programs to provide valuable learning opportunities for students, allowing them to be mentored individually or in small groups while leading optional teaching experiences.

Pleasure Ridge Park High School Partnership

As a community partner, Pleasure Ridge Park High School (PRP) has a total enrollment of 1,580 students, with 49% identifying as female and 51% as male. The school demographics include 56% of the students identify as white, 34% Black, 5% Latino and 5% other race/ethnicity categories. 

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Students with SOUL work together to paint a fence

The outreach program educated high school students about cardiac electrical activity and its impact on heart health. By the end of the session, students could identify and interpret the main components of an electrocardiogram (ECG) and understand their physiological significance. Students engaged in hands-on activities to explore how different breathing patterns, such as Valsalva maneuver, slow breathing and exercise, affected heart rate. They also learned about environmental factors like air pollution and heavy metals that can disrupt cardiac rhythms and increase arrhythmia risk.

Led by Claudio Maldonado, Dale Schuschke and Daniela Terson de Paleville, the program included animations on cardiac activity, a group ECG demonstration on the effects of vaping and exercise and small group practice with 3-lead and wireless ECG setups, providing practical experience in cardiac monitoring and strategies to reduce environmental health risks