Sixty members of the UNMC High School Alliance are among the students taking classes at UNMC this academic year.
The students come from high schools around the Omaha area and take college-level classes at UNMC to prepare for health careers.
Today we meet:
- Name: Daniel Coyle
- High school: Westside High School
- Year: Senior
How did you get involved in the UNMC High School Alliance?
My high school counselor spoke very highly of the program. Also, one of my good friends, Quinn Nelson, did the program and recommended it to me. He knew I was very interested in health sciences and told me it was a great way to affirm my interest in medicine. I knew I would have a lot of open time my senior year at Westside, so I decided to look into the program. I went to the website and was immediately convinced I wanted to be a part of the UNMC High School Alliance.
What sparked your interest in science?
When I was in ninth grade, I was playing in an indoor soccer game on an artificial turf surface. My teammate passed me a ball, and I had to clear it quickly. My left foot got stuck in the turf while the rest of my body rotated. As a result, I was rushed, with intense hip pain, to an orthopedic surgeon. Without the use of an X-ray, my doctor was able to diagnose my injury — an avulsion on my interior iliac spine. I was amazed he could pinpoint such a complex injury by a few simple tests. Since then, I’ve been very interested in health science courses.
What are your career aspirations?
Right now, I’m very interested in orthopedics, but I know that could easily change in the next eight years. I’m pretty certain I want to go into medicine, but what area is a blur.
What has been the best part of your UNMC High School Alliance experience so far?
The amount of hands-on activity we are involved in has been amazing. So far, my favorite part was working in the lab with Sorin Luca, Ph.D. We got to spend nearly 15 hours in the lab located in the College of Pharmacy. Each day we went through a lab procedure. Dr. Luca taught us how to form a liposome from a lipid. Overall, it was a rewarding experience. I’ve also enjoyed the material we have covered in the pathology course taught by Geoffrey Talmon, M.D. The content we learn is very interesting.