The department's Academic Success Through Surgical Education and Training (ASSET) program aims to foster high achievement in science through surgical education for financially disadvantaged students at the Nativity School. As part of the program, the department hosts students for workshops throughout the year, focusing on anatomy, simulation, and surgical skills.
Durham Nativity School students will learn & practice the process for applying surgical masks, shoe covers, scrubbing, surgical gowning, and gloving. Using swine paws, they will learn how to make skin incisions, suture the incisions, and observe the anatomy of different bone and tissue structures.