Burrillville student selected for Congress of Future Medical Leaders

BURRILLVILLE – A Burrillville student who aspires to someday become an emergency or operating room nurse has been selected to serve as a delegate at the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists conference this month, an honors-only program for high school students who are dedicated to the service of humanity through medicine.

Hailey Slekis, the daughter of Stacey and Shawn Slekis, will travel to Boston, Mass. for the Congress of Future Medical Leaders on June 21 to June 23.

Slekis, who will become a sophomore at Burrillville High School next year, currently serves on student council, plays volleyball – both in school and with a club – and enjoys figure skating.

“High-achieving and deserving high school students are selected to become Delegates of the Congress of Future Medical Leaders by parents, teachers, and other educational avenues,” noted a write-up on the academy’s selection process. “Student Delegates are screened through an application process that includes GPA verification. Academically superior high school students are honored for their dedication, talent, and leadership potential in medicine.”

Delegates are required to maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher to attend.

Slekis, now 15, was nominated by a teacher last year as a BHS freshman.

“In the medical field my goal is to work as an operating room nurse or an emergency room nurse,” she told NRI NOW. “I want to help people in need, whether it’s a twisted ankle, or a heart transplant.”

At the academy, she’ll meet thousands of students with similar interests from across the country and hear from some of the world’s leading medical pioneers, groundbreaking researchers and young prodigies leading the future of medicine and medical technology, according to the academy. The future healthcare leaders also hear from patients who have had their lives changed – or saved – by advances in medicine, and will view surgery with the opportunity to submit questions to the surgeon in real time.

“The purpose of the Congress is to honor, inspire, motivate and direct the top students in our country and help them stay true to their dreams,” notes the academy.