2007 Community Health Experience
The Department of Family & Community Medicine
and the
Hispanic Center of Excellence
SUMMER 2007 Community Health Experience
COMMUNITY MEDICINE/BORDER HEALTH SUMMER PRECEPTORSHIP
TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER
El PASO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Texas Tech second year medical students and primarily UTEP undergraduates and graduates recently completed a community health experience that provided first-hand experiences in health care delivery at the community level from May 29 to June 22, 2007. The summer program is designed to expose the students to a variety of health and civic topics related to community medicine and border health and, to provide an introductory experience in the patient encounter - including history taking, physical exam, diagnosis and management.
The curriculum included:
• Regular clinic work at the Community Partnership Clinics of the Dept of Family
& Community Medicine in Fabens, Socorro, and Montana Vista and
emphasizing case-based learning.
• Running a weekly Health Club for children teaching about nose bleeds,
dehydration, cuts and first aid.
• Running a health clinic for 2 days at a Guadalupe Mexico orphanage.
• Procedure workshops including EKGs, suturing, liquid nitrogen cryosurgery,
phlebotomy, vaccinations and triage of patients. All skills were performed on real clinic patients.
• Attending delivery of babies in a hospital ward and attending hospital inpatient
rounds.
This community health experience provided a tremendous opportunity to enhance leadership skills, and to provide new perspectives and outlooks. Most of all, it provided exposure and direct contact at the ‘front-line of border health medicine. The US-Mexico border has created unique health problems that are just beginning to be realized. This program develops personal skills of uncovering special interest, of arousing curiosity, and of developing an environment for growth.