11th and 12th grade students had the special opportunity on March 9 to meet and talk via livestream with Dr. Margarita Camacho, a leading New Jersey cardiothoracic surgeon at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, to learn about organ transplants and the benefits of being an organ donor.  During the meeting, the students watched a pre-recorded video of Dr. Camacho doing a full heart transplant and an implant of a LVAV machine, while listening to her explain the delicate procedures involved in the operations.

Twenty-six students who are part of three different high school science classes came together for the two-hour Zoom presentation. The students were from the Honors Anatomy and Physiology class, the Intro to Health and Medicine class, and the Biology 2 class, in which students can earn dual college credits from Atlantic Cape Community College.

Faculty member Celine Melody, who teaches the Biology 2 and the Intro to Health and Medicine classes, organized the livestream, which was facilitated by the Liberty Science Center.  She said the presentation began with a representative from the NJ Sharing Network educating the students about organ donations and encouraging them to consider being organ donors. A second speaker was a heart transplant recipient, who shared his story about how an organ donation saved his life. The final speaker was Dr. Camacho.

“Our students had the opportunity to ask questions of Dr. Camacho, who was very kind and engaging,” Melody said. “Overall, our students were very impressed and loved the experience. Many of them said they were inspired by the work the doctor did and were encouraged to consider becoming organ donors once they reached the age of 18.”