Houston, Tx - A lot of people think New Orleans should use Houston's thriving medical corridor as an example of how to create jobs here. The city's school district has established an award winning high school where students take advantage of medical training opportunities offered right next door.
“It's definitely an advantage to go to this school. It's medically oriented,” said student Kshitij Desai.
Desai is an aspiring medical student, who attends high school in the heart of the huge, Texas medical center.
“We see a lot more hospitals. I've been to over 7 different hospitals from cardio to pediatrics,” Desai said.
The Michael Debakey Center was named after the world's most famous heart surgeon, born in Louisiana, educated in New Orleans.
“Dr. Debakey's dream was a combination of equity and excellence,” Principal Linda Lazenby said
Though he was born east of the Sabine, Debakey made his mark in Houston with pioneering heart surgeries, which helped fuel unprecedented growth at the Texas Medical Center.
“Nothing he did was mediocre and that's what he instilled in students - take yourself to those limits,” said Lazenby.
Only the best and brightest get into Debakey high. Student Lauren Anyian says it can be tough.
“They're very strick. This is the most strict school I've ever been in,” she said.
Everything is college level. In fact, 100 percent of the schools graduates attend college and some get a free ride all the way through medical school.
“Upon receiving that scholarship, they will attend the University of Houston and they have automatic acceptance into the Baylor college of medicine,” Lazenby said.
If you think this school is all show, think again. Debakey students are rolling up their sleeves at the nearby medical center and getting involved in cutting edge research.
Though just a senior in high school, Desai is already doing his own cancer research projects.
“I’ve mutated the virus so it can tag onto metastatic breast cancer cells,” he boasts.
