This semester, Saint Andrew’s introduced Solutions in Medicine, an innovative new course designed to immerse students in the world of clinical problem-solving. The inaugural class of 16 Upper School students stepped into the role of medical detectives, analyzing patient cases step by step just as real physicians do.
Throughout the semester, students completed two major case presentations, each requiring them to unravel a medical mystery through structured clinical reasoning and analysis. Beginning with a patient’s chief complaint and progressing through physical examination findings, laboratory results, imaging, and specialized testing, students built and refined their differential diagnoses at every stage. Their presentations did not simply reveal the final diagnosis; instead, they highlighted the critical thinking that guided them from uncertainty to clarity, demonstrating the evidence-based, collaborative approach used in modern medicine.
For their final assessment, students will reverse roles: instead of receiving cases from physicians, they will present their own carefully constructed cases to doctors and residents from the Cleveland Clinic, who have mentored the class via Google Meet, and attempt to stump the experts with rare and challenging diagnoses.
Zoey McVoy ’26 enrolled in the course to explore her interest in both medicine and law, a combination she hopes will eventually lead to a career in medical malpractice. She describes Solutions in Medicine as one of the most rigorous and rewarding academic experiences she has had at Saint Andrew’s.
“I wanted to try a fun elective science class, especially since I’m interested in doing some pre-med and pre-law in college,” Zoey said. “I thought I’d try a medical class and see how I liked it, and I really like it now. I’m glad that I did.”
The partnership with Cleveland Clinic physicians added an authentic, real-world dimension to the work. During the second case, residents were assigned to small groups and joined the students in breakout rooms via Google Meet. Having Dr. Alexandra Prieto as the in-person teacher further strengthened the experience.
“She kept us on track and showed us how to look at the bigger picture,” Zoey said. “There were times we went down rabbit holes, but she helped us learn the most efficient way to analyze the information.”
When asked about teaching this course, Dr. Prieto said, “The most rewarding part of teaching this class has been watching our students transform from curious learners into confident clinical thinkers. They aren’t just memorizing; they are collaborating with purpose, using evidence-based reasoning, and approaching these complex, real-world cases with the same curiosity and clarity we see in the professional mentors. This class is designed so that they learn not only how to diagnose a patient, but how to think like purposeful, informed professionals.”
Zoey notes that she learned more medicine in a short span than she ever expected—from interpreting lab results to distinguishing between inflammatory, cardiac, infectious, or oncologic patterns in patient data. By the second case, she said, the entire class had become noticeably faster and more confident in their clinical reasoning.
Zoey says that any time she speaks with her parents or people outside of Saint Andrew’s about the course, she finds that they are amazed that such a course is offered to high school students. She is grateful for the opportunity to have taken this course and hopes that more students will have the chance to experience it in the future.
“If I could recommend anything to someone interested in medicine, it’s to take this class,” she said.
As Solutions in Medicine concludes its first semester, its impact is already unmistakable. Students did not just learn about medicine; they learned to think like medical professionals, to collaborate with purpose, and to approach complex challenges with curiosity and clarity. In doing so, they discovered not only how to diagnose a patient, but how to define the kind of purposeful, informed thinkers they hope to become.