At June’s meeting of the Ladder, medical scholars gathered for food, fun and learning about ENT (ears/nose/throat) medicine and physiology!

Medical scholars ranging from young to veteran!

First, while sharing lunch in small groups, medical scholars introduced themselves to one another and spent some time sharing perspectives on a couple of particularly relevant thoughts from Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King, Jr. :

After lunch, medical scholars had the opportunity to learn about the physiology and interconnectedness of the ear/nose/throat, as well as about a number of tools and techniques for examining these areas of the body. Here medical scholars demonstrate use of otoscopes for viewing the ear canal:

Medical scholar Christopher demonstrating use of an otoscope

Another aspect of ENT function scholars learned about is the sense of smell and how integral it is to the sense of taste:

Medical scholars testing their senses of smell on mystery items

At another station, scholars learned some ways to test hearing, including use of tuning forks for something called the Weber test:

Medical scholar Tekya demonstrates the principle of the Weber test for hearing using a tuning fork

Rounding out our overview of ENT medicine was a station covering physiology and function of the throat: specifically the vocal cords and their appearance, how they work & what occurs when they get inflamed or irritated. Here, scholars learn how vocal cords are a lot like rubber bands, where their tone/sound is analogous to rubber rands of different sizes/density stretched over plastic cups:

Learning about function & physiology of vocal cords

We cover a lot of ground in two hours, and have a lot of fun and socializing in the process! See for yourself and join us for next month’s meeting of the Ladder – a Society of Medical Scholars. Our next meeting is July 12th (always the second Saturday of the month – even over the summer!) and open to all ages. You’ll have a lot of fun, get a free lunch, and probably even learn something in the process! We meet at the UROC building (2001 Plymouth Ave N) in North Minneapolis.

“Lift as you Climb, Build as you Grow”