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Ellis Abel Learns.

In my own words · Springfield, IL

Why I love doctors

A scientist looks through a microscope at human breast cancer cells in a cell bioassay laboratory, with an automated liquid handling robot behind her. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Medicine" page — read by families in Springfield, IL.
A scientist looks through a microscope at human breast cancer cells in a cell bioassay laboratory, with an automated liquid handling robot behind her. Abigail Nicole Henke, USGS · Public domain
  • Somebody figured out how to fix this.
  • You have to know how it works before you can help it.
  • The tests tell you what the person cannot.

You can love doctors in Springfield.

What it really is

Medicine applies biology and evidence to keep a specific person alive and well.

Three things to try today

  1. Take your pulse for fifteen seconds.
  2. Multiply by four.
  3. Do it again after running and compare.
A scientist looks through a microscope at human breast cancer cells in a cell bioassay laboratory, with an automated liquid handling robot behind her. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Medicine" page — read by families in Springfield, IL.
A scientist looks through a microscope at human breast cancer cells in a cell bioassay laboratory, with an automated liquid handling robot behind her. Abigail Nicole Henke, USGS · Public domain

For the grown-up reading this

A child in Springfield, IL who loves doctors is not unusual. A child in Springfield, IL who is told that loving doctors is unusual — that is the problem. The Springfield, IL metro area has about 206,033 residents, ranking 230th in the country.

Pulse times four is a child's first calculation with a real purpose.

If the kid who loves this is a girl

Read what one popular teacher said to one little girl who took out the classroom trash without being asked — and what that girl did with the rest of her life.

Girls are great at math — Springfield, IL →

Love something else too

Astronaut Kate Rubins holds a handheld DNA sequencer while running a gene sequencing experiment aboard the space station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Genetics" page — read by families in Springfield, IL.Why I love DNAAstronaut Ricky Arnold processes swab samples of microbes collected from space station surfaces at a work station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Germs" page — read by families in Springfield, IL.Why I love germsA research laboratory seen from outside through a glass window, with a scientist inside preparing samples for analysis. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Science" page — read by families in Springfield, IL.Why I love scienceA wide-angle view of the flight control room of NASA's Mission Control Center, filled with rows of consoles and display screens. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Technology" page — read by families in Springfield, IL.Why I love technologyLong rows of black cabinets housing the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Computers" page — read by families in Springfield, IL.Why I love computersTwo small AstroPi Raspberry Pi computers with camera modules floating in the Columbus laboratory of the space station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Coding" page — read by families in Springfield, IL.Why I love codingA close-up of one row of the Discover supercomputer, showing about 2,000 processors stacked in cabinets with cabling. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Data" page — read by families in Springfield, IL.Why I love dataThe Robonaut 2 humanoid robot, with a gold-visored head and two jointed arms, mounted inside the Destiny laboratory of the space station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Robotics" page — read by families in Springfield, IL.Why I love robots

Near Springfield

Why I love doctors, everywhere in the US · All things to love · STEM jobs you could do · Summer camps in Springfield