The Pan Am Clinic opened one its operating rooms to students today by live streaming a minimally invasive surgery.

More than 1,200 students from across the province watched a surgeon reconstruct a ligament in a patient’s knee during the one hour procedure Thursday morning.

“This will make the first time in Canada students will study an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and watch a live reconstruction surgery streamed directly into their classrooms,” Pan Am Clinic Chief Operating Officer Wayne Hildahl said in a release.

The wonders of new technology made it possible for about 70 students in grades 11 and 12 at Sisler High School to watch the procedure live.

From there, the video feed was streamed to more than 1,200 students across northern Manitoba.

The interactive learning project was the goal of a variety of health care and educational facilities who want to make high tech procedures more accessible to students.

They include Sisler High School, the Pan Am Clinic, its Foundation, The Winnipeg School Division, Frontier School Division, and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.