Carondelet Neurological Institute recently hosted 12 Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) high school students in the institute's first ever Brain Academy.

The 2-day conference offered students an opportunity to engage with specialists at a continuing medical education conference covering the latest developments in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological conditions. As part of the conference, each student created presentations they could bring back to their peers at their own high schools.

Conference attendees included physicians, NPs, PAs and RNs. The students were identified by TUSD principals and science teachers. For the students, this chance to learn from practicing neurological experts about the field of neurosciences is unprecedented.

On the first day of the academy, students toured the institute on the campus of St. Joseph's Hospital. They visited the angiography suite, surgical suites customized with advanced brain and spine navigation technology and a sophisticated linear accelerator used for targeted radiation of brain and spine tumors. The second day, students participated side by side as neurologists, neurosurgeons and other clinicians discussed the latest advancements in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, stroke, movement disorders, disorders of the spine and brain concussions.