Photo: Bryan Goodchild
UMass Chan Medical School students returned to the YMCA Central Community Branch swimming pool this summer to re-establish Water Safe Worcester, a program built to promote water safety among kids and teens.
The free lessons highlight the importance of recognizing signs of danger while swimming in the city’s lakes and ponds and aim to prevent drowning deaths. The lessons are held every Wednesday evening for six weeks until Aug.19.
“This program is a great way to tie in my experiences as a medical student and as a swimmer,” said Victoria Taieb, a second-year medical student and former lifeguard. “People should feel comfortable, safe and confident in the water. Swimming in the pool or ocean is fun and what we’re trying to do is teach how to be safe while having fun.”
The lessons included the message, “Reach or throw, don’t go,” in which swimmers would take turns tossing Manny Tubes to each other, floatation devices provided by the Manny 267 Foundation.
“The kids are at a good age for them to learn the correct techniques and get comfortable in the water,” said Michael Bedard, a second-year medical student and former firefighter-EMT. “There’s a lot to be said about building community and building trust and the goal of the program is to create the kind of environment where the kids can learn things quickly and build their confidence in the pool.”
Photo: Bryan Goodchild
“As medical students, we bring our own perspectives and backgrounds in swimming, and we work together to keep an eye on each kid’s abilities in the pool. We also hope that we can be a group of people these kids can look up to,” Bedard said.
Water Safe Worcester was launched in 2021 as a volunteer program led by UMass Chan medical students, faculty and staff. Now, the program is a longitudinal pathway project for Taieb and Bedard.
As part of the VISTA curriculum, medical students select a pathway program that gives them opportunities to explore areas of interest in depth during their four years in medical school. Water Safe Worcester is a product of the Clinical Care Pathway, which encourages students to address clinical problems, healthcare gaps, patient safety or patient education gaps through innovative interventions and the development of educational materials or prospective research.
Photo: Bryan Goodchild
Second-year medical students Alicia Bergeron, Theresa Gervais, Matthew Larson, Alexandra Tse, Trevor Vigeant and Alexindra Wheeler all volunteered this summer to support the program.
“An important element of medicine and public health is the outreach to the community and helping others. Water Safe Worcester is a great initiative these students are reinvigorating,” said Kaitlyn Wong, MD, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of surgery and pediatrics. Dr. Wong and Alycia Valente, MD, MBE, assistant professor of emergency medicine, are overseeing the program.
Water Safe Worcester is run in collaboration with the YouthConnect program, a free summer and after-school program with hundreds of kids enrolled between several locations, including the United Way of Central Massachusetts, Girls Inc. of Worcester, YMCA, Friendly House, YWCA, Boys & Girls Club, Youth Opportunities Upheld (Y.O.U.) Inc. and Worcester Youth Center.
