Osseo-Fairchild Students Get a Close Look at the Brain

Friday, May 9th, 2025 -- 9:00 AM

May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month.

Did you know that Osseo-Fairchild Senior Frankee Drummer is a fierce advocate for brain cancer research? She has spoken at many different avenues and most recently was involved with Camp Norden (a camp for children who have been touched by cancer) and helped raise money needed for the camp.

In May, Advanced Skills in Anatomy and Physiology students learned about what a brain tumor is, looked at medical pictures of tumors, and named specific symptoms that might indicate a brain tumor.

They reviewed brain anatomy and what functions are targeted in each lobe of the brain. Recently, they watched an actual surgical resection removing a brain tumor.

Students then read about fluorescent surgery which allows doctors to label tumors with fluorescent tags that will make the tumor 'light up' during surgery to help differentiate healthy tissue from cancerous tissue. Finally, students 'scrubbed in' to simulate the procedure with gelatin brains, UV flashlights and UV tagged 'tumors'.

Students created patient notes for the surgery indicating where the tumor was located, symptoms that suggested a tumor in that specific area of the brain, and if the removal the tumor was successful or if the use of UV light showed more tissue needed to be removed.

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