More than 300 high school seniors from all over the state spent a few hours Wednesday watching the "miracle of life" — something that has been known to make many queasy.

But these students, all aiming to pursue careers in medicine, said watching the taped births was not only fascinating but informative.

It was more than just your standard health class birth videos. The births were filmed in real time and the physicians performing the procedures were on hand to answer questions via live video conference spanning eight sites throughout the state.

"In the real world, with liability and privacy issues the way they are now, we can't get students into operating rooms or labor and delivery rooms," said Thalea Longhurst, health science and technology education specialist at the State Office of Education. "For kids to really get a feel for what medicine and health care is like, this was one of our only options."

The Virtual Healthcare Initiative project is part of a joint effort from Intermountain Healthcare and the State Office of Education to provide real-time medical experiences to Utah students who are interested in health-related careers.

In the past two years students were able to watch heart surgeries, but this was the first year they were able to view a taped C-section as well as a vaginal delivery.

"It was kind of scary at first asking the doctors questions, but once you start watching the film and seeing what a miracle it was ... the whole experience has been amazing," said Jocelyn King, an East High senior. "It was a very beneficial experience, and I learned a lot today," said Ali Royall, a Highland High senior who plans to go into midwifery.

But the importance and uniqueness of the opportunity was the ability to talk to the actual physicians performing the procedures, Longhurst said.

While watching the video students could make comments or question what the doctor was doing and why it was being done.

"We could give them a video and that can be a valuable experience but to be able to sit down and talk live to the physician and ask questions and have those questions answered — that is where we find the value in this experience," Longhurst said.

She said the state office will continue to work with Intermountain to develop a series of videos on procedures and surgeries and offer multiple events throughout the school year.

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