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Students in the Bachelor of Science in Medical Sciences program in the School of Health Professions typically plan to apply to medical school or other graduate programs in health professions —and one thing they will encounter no matter their journey in healthcare is research, said , director of the BSMS program.

“They will be involved in research one way or another,” Galaleldeen said.

Enter the program’s first-ever research day, held Dec. 1. The event provided a forum for sharing research posters developed by second-year Medical Sciences students as well as medical cases presented by first-year students.

The second-year students formed groups and submitted research topics for approval before diving into their work. They were required to demonstrate the feasibility of their projects, which included “Nanopore sequencing of Candidozyma auris FKS1 for Rapid Detection of Echinocandin Resistance,” “Variations in Chlorine Concentration and Bacterial Growth from Water Samples Across Different Areas in San Antonio, Texas,” “Hard-Waiver Health Insurance Policy Impact on Students at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio” and “Bacterial Infections from Unhygienic Needle Storage in Soil.”

“Teaching research is a challenging task,” said Assistant Professor Guillermo Nunez, PhD, MS, MLS (ASCP)^CM. “I wanted to give students a fresh perspective on research by allowing them to design projects rooted in their own interests.”

First-year anatomy students in the program presented medical case studies that linked core anatomical principles to real-world clinical conditions. Featured projects included Dextrocardia Uncovered, The Death Triangle: A Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis, SMAll Problem, Big GI Issues, and Frozen in Time, a vignette highlighting fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva—a rare genetic disorder characterized by abnormal bone formation.

Assistant Professor Benjamin T. Enslow, MD, who teaches anatomy, described the medical case project as a foundational learning experience for students.

“Anatomy is the language of medicine,” Enslow said. “This is the stage where students begin practicing how to speak that language.”