At the Albert Einstein College of Medicine's Bronx Hope summer program, hands-on education means taking students from the classroom to the emergency room to learn about gunshot wounds and overdoses -- sort of.

The students are treating mannequins with fake wounds as part of a medical simulation. In a drug-overdose simulation, a flesh-and-blood intern serves as the dummy. 

The program admitted 26 local undergraduate students this year -- all of whom come from underrepresented groups. They are not necessarily studying medicine, but they have expressed an interest in health care careers.

"Having these real-life experiences is just the best thing you can do, because learning from a book is not going to provide that," says Bridget Quinones, a Manhattan College student taking part in the program who wants to become an OBGYN.

Medical professionals from the Montefiore health care system monitor students and control the lifelike mannequins from behind a two-way mirror.

The mannequins themselves are designed to be extremely lifelike. They bleed, blink and breath.