Project Lead the Way

Our Mission

The UC Davis department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine is committed to caring for its patients, serving its community, and guiding the next generation of healthcare professionals. We believe that community outreach is vital to engaging and encouraging our future generations. With this mission in mind, we have partnered with the California Society of Anesthesiologists (CSA) and Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a national nonprofit organization aimed at increasing STEM education, to introduce a new biomedical workshop to three high schools in the greater Sacramento area: River City High School, Antelope High School, and Pleasant Grove High School.  

As part of this partnership, our team of anesthesiologists and residents visit each high school to provide an engaging curriculum, which includes lectures on pulmonary anatomy and physiology, workshops on inventing tools for endotracheal intubation, hands-on airway workshops, and a pathway to medicine panel. The students also visit UC Davis' state-of-the-art Center for Health and Technology, where they participate in real-life simulations and learn about standard anesthesia monitors, point of care ultrasound, and Basic Life Support.  Our goal is to mentor and empower these young students to pursue health care professions by sharing our various paths into medicine, holding Q&A sessions about the pre-medicine educational track, and giving candid career advice. Our surveys indicate that students find our visits to be both educational and motivating. This partnership has allowed for an exciting opportunity for our local high school students to be exposed to the field of medicine, and specifically anesthesiology, early on in their educational pathway.