Upper School Intersession 2025

What is gender affirming care? What are hormones and how do they work? How do doctors customize medical care for transgender and nonbinary patients to achieve their individual gender transition goals and optimize safe health outcomes?

This session will introduce hormonal pathways of the endocrine system, hormone medications commonly prescribed for gender affirming care and their effects on the human body. We will discuss how gender affirming hormone therapy induces physical and emotional changes that help transgender and gender diverse people feel more aligned with their identities. We will review current guidelines and best practices regarding informed consent, medical monitoring, and the importance of multidisciplinary health care.

No prerequisite skills or knowledge are required. We will review definitions and terminology at the beginning of the session to ensure we are using consistent, inclusive and respectful language.

In this session, the first 15-20 minutes will focus on explaining the journey from high school to college, including how I discovered my passion for healthcare, the classes that sparked my interest, and the ways I explored those interests further. I’ll then discuss the college application process and the path of a pre-dental student, covering topics like relevant coursework, shadowing experiences, and preparing for and taking the DAT.

I’ll also outline a traditional timeline for high school students interested in pursuing a healthcare career. Afterward, we’ll engage in a manual dexterity project, a skill valuable not only for future dentists but also for surgeons, nurses, physical therapists, physician assistants, and more. No prerequisites are required for this session.

Why were grown men once absolutely terrified to ride trains? What would compel well-to-do women to swear off all physical activity and eat nothing but heavy cream soups? Why were doctors so worried about wristwatches? How did Coca-Cola – with traces of cocaine – become America’s favorite headache remedy?

In a word: anxiety. 

In this session, we’ll explore the history of modern America through its wild, amusing, and sometimes disturbing responses to big changes that included the rise of cities, new technologies, lightning-fast transportation, access to drugs, and shifting gender roles and identities. To do this we'll examine medical literature, fairytales, Victorian fiction, and a bit of 19th century pseudoscience.

For students interested in history, medical mysteries, gender studies, source analysis, and storytelling.

We now know that sex and gender are an interrelated spectrum. These are reflected in the way archaeologists view skeletons, and helps to problematise our view of sex and gender concepts and roles in ancient societies. This session will teach methods used to perform scientific sex assessments and the ways we use that and other archaeological indicators to suggest gender. From there, we will discuss and problematise the ways that sex and gender have been discussed in archaeology, and how that has impacted the public understanding of ancient societies.

Key questions: Were women always confined to domestic spaces? Were men always hunters? Is there archaeological evidence for trans, non-binary, and other gender identities across the ancient world? How have researchers misidentified sex and gender of archaeological individuals, and how does this change our understanding of their identities and societies?

Part of a series: “Ethical issues in archaeology." Students are invited to attend one or more sessions in this series by Stacy.
In this session, we will be viewing images of ancient human remains.

Join us for a hands-on exploration of forensic science. In this lab, you will learn the ins and outs of crime scene investigation, collecting and analyzing physical evidence, examining wound patterns, and psychological profiling. This class will give you the opportunity to practice and perfect the most important techniques coroners, pathologists, forensic technicians and forensic psychologists use in the lab and field to solve crimes.

Join us for a hands-on exploration of forensic science. In this lab, you will learn the ins and outs of crime scene investigation, collecting and analyzing physical evidence, examining wound patterns, and psychological profiling. This class will give you the opportunity to practice and perfect the most important techniques coroners, pathologists, forensic technicians and forensic psychologists use in the lab and field to solve crimes.

Calling premeds (or prospective premeds)! Join this interactive workshop on navigating the premed journey, and explore critical topics such as course selection, extracurricular planning, study strategies, and application tips for college and beyond. Led by an experienced mentor who has just finished applying to and gaining admission to medical school, this course empowers future medical professionals to confidently navigate each stage of their premed path with a clear roadmap, preparing them to stand out as competitive, compassionate candidates.

We now know that sex and gender are an interrelated spectrum. These are reflected in the way archaeologists view skeletons, and helps to problematise our view of sex and gender concepts and roles in ancient societies. This session will teach methods used to perform scientific sex assessments and the ways we use that and other archaeological indicators to suggest gender. From there, we will discuss and problematise the ways that sex and gender have been discussed in archaeology, and how that has impacted the public understanding of ancient societies.

Key questions: Were women always confined to domestic spaces? Were men always hunters? Is there archaeological evidence for trans, non-binary, and other gender identities across the ancient world? How have researchers misidentified sex and gender of archaeological individuals, and how does this change our understanding of their identities and societies?

Part of a series: “Ethical issues in archaeology." Students are invited to attend one or more sessions in this series by Stacy.

In this session, we will be viewing images of ancient human remains.

It takes an average of $1.3 billion and more than 10 years to bring a new medicine to the point of applying for FDA approval. After pursuing this long and often tortuous path, the prospects are risky, and the FDA faces a binary choice: Grant marketing authorization, or reject the application?

What does the drug development process entail, and why is it so long, expensive, and complex? What is FDA's role in protecting American consumers and the public? How are the concepts of "benefit" and "risk" used to provide a framework for these decisions?

In this interactive session, you will learn the basics of the drug development process, including the role of the FDA in deciding whether to allow access to new drugs. Students will work in groups to evaluate whether a new drug should be "approved", and, if so, under what conditions.

Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) can impact up to 5% of the population, but they can often be dismissed as bad habits. However, BFRBs are actual disorders and much harder to treat due to changes in brain anatomy and external stressors. These disorders, in which a person uncontrollably fidgets with his or her body, can be both physically and emotionally damaging. In this activity, the physiology, development, and consequences of BFRBs are discussed as well as ways to cope and support yourself and loved ones.