This weekend, Kasha Stolberg will be putting her knowledge of human anatomy to the test.
Stolberg, a junior at Duchesne Academy in Omaha, is the only Nebraska student among 31 students from Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, California, Indiana, Washington, Texas and Nebraska participating in the Northwest Regional Anato-Bee competition, which will be held March 14-15 at UNMC’s Omaha campus.
The event is sponsored by the UNMC Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry.
The two-day event will test high school students from across the region on anatomy, embryology, histology and diagnostic reasoning. Competitors will participate in an anatomy lab practical, a written examination, standardized patient diagnoses and an oral quiz conducted in a format similar to a spelling bee.
As Stolberg puts it, the event “is pretty much everything about the body — bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments.”
Top-placing students at each regional competition will be awarded scholarships to attend a summer program of their choice that focuses on the anatomical and/or clinical sciences.
Stolberg qualified for the regional event by taking a written test in anatomy, histology and embryology in January 2026. “I studied as much as I could with the time I had.” Her score qualified to her to compete in this weekend’s live competition.
She said she was excited to learn about the event, which is a high school outreach initiative that promotes education in the anatomical sciences.
“I’ve been interested in going into medicine for a while,” she said. “I do have some nerves about this weekend, especially because there are going to be a lot of people who are really talented there, but I’m excited to meet everyone, meet people who have the same interest as me and are as competitive as I am.”
She also sees the event as a chance to get an early gauge on her medical interests.
“I’ve been interested in medicine since middle school,” she said. “I feel there are a lot of good, hardworking people in the field, and that it could be a really interesting career. And, of course, helping people would be amazing.”