PRIME-HEq Electives and Experiences
Influences on Health: From Genes to Communities (PEDS 250)
This introductory elective teaches PRIME-HEq students about the myriad factors which might influence a person’s health. Students will learn about the health impact of a person’s genetic make-up and the changes in medicine which may someday allow physicians to tailor treatment based on an individual’s genetic make-up. Most of the activities in the class focus on external influences on health: poverty, historical events, neighborhoods, and culture. Students participate in seminars, simulations, community tours, as well as didactic sessions.
PEDS 250 Instructors include a multidisciplinary team of UC San Diego Faculty and their affiliates. To date, the following faculty and affiliates have lectured or facilitated activities for this course:
- Shelia Broyles, PhD, MPH
- Teresa Cooper, MSN, RN, CPNP, CTN
- Sandra Daley, MD
- Nancy Graff, MD
- Ashley Maier, MSW
- Nicholas Schork, PhD
- Dean Sidelinger, MD, MSEd
- Frank Silva, MPH
Beyond the Bench and Bedside: Partnering with Communities (PEDS 251)
This introductory elective teaches PRIME-HEq students about the myriad factors which might influence a person’s health. Students will learn about the health impact of a person’s genetic make-up and the changes in medicine which may someday allow physicians to tailor treatment based on an individual’s genetic make-up. Most of the activities in the class focus on external influences on health: poverty, historical events, neighborhoods, and culture. Students participate in seminars, simulations, community tours, as well as didactic sessions.
PEDS 251 Instructors include a multidisciplinary team of UC San Diego Faculty and their affiliates. To date, the following faculty and affiliates have lectured or facilitated activities for this course:
- Gregory Blaschke, MD, MPH
- Jesse Brennan, MA
- Shelia Broyles, PhD, MPH
- Sandra Daley, MD
- Patricia East, PhD
- John Fontanesi, PhD
- Lourdes Rivera, MA
- Dean Sidelinger, MD, MSEd
Other Activities to Date
PRIME-HEq students are given the opportunity to enhance their cultural competency and knowledge of traditionally underserved communities through excursions, performances, and presentations, including program-sponsored community tours, theatrical productions, and conferences. The following list provides examples of program-sponsored activities:
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Sweet 15 (Quinceañera) Theatrical Production
Written by and starring Broadway's Rick Najera; directed by Sam Woodhouse.The inaugural class was invited to the production of Sweet 15 at The San Diego Repertory Theatre. This interactive musical comedy tells the story of the Valderama family of National City as they celebrate their daughter's quinceañera (sweet fifteen coming-of-age party): “Patriarch Eduardo has returned home from Mexico after a ten year absence that began the day his daughter Sonora turned 15—and he has unexplained riches. Eduardo vows to put his family back on their feet on one condition: 25-year-old Sonora must agree to star in the quinceañera party that dad abandoned ten years ago.”
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Fences Theatrical Production
Written by Tony Award winner August Wilson; directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg.The inaugural class was invited to the Cygnet Theater and the San Diego Black Ensemble Theater co-production of Fences. “Set in the 1950s, Fences is the sixth play in Wilson's ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle. Like all of the Pittsburgh plays, Fences explores the evolving African-American experience and examines race relations, among other themes.”
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Community Engagement Activities
The Cultural Immersion Days of planned learning occur in communities where culturally diverse people reside. During cultural immersion days, ethnic foods, stories, and music contribute to learning about the children, families, and the assets and needs of that community. For example, PRIME-HEq students will meet in a cultural community, eat and share a traditional meal with leaders and community members, and learn directly from their hosts about the history, views, beliefs, and traditions of that particular community or culture. It is through this direct interaction with the community that the PRIME-HEq student is able to learn about the reality of that culture. Learning during cultural immersion days focuses on themes such as cross cultural communication, understanding the needs of specific communities, affects of immigration, level of acculturation, religion, and health beliefs on a patient’s decision making, and increasing the appreciation of the numerous cultures and communities in San Diego.
The immersion day is taught by a Transcultural nurse (Teresa Cooper) and Community Pediatrics staff (Frank Silva, MPH; Ashley Maier, MSW). PRIME-HEq students are toured through the Mid-City or Logan Heights areas of San Diego County. During this experience, students will observe how different individuals and organizations work together to improve the health of the people living within that community. They will visit various community-based organizations and government institutions that serve the residents of these communities, meet with community leaders and discuss various related topics. Discussion topics include: impact of environment, social inequalities, poverty, and blight on health; community mobilization and empowerment, role of the medical professional in community health, and the refugee resettlement process. These discussions will occur at community-based organizations. During the Logan Heights Cultural Immersion Day, there is also a tour of Chicano Park with a brief history of the park and the murals in the park. The following describes the learning objectives of these activities.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the needs of specific communities
- Understand the affects of immigration, level of acculturation, religion, and health beliefs on a patient’s decision making
- Identify agencies in the community that assess, plan, and provide services for children and families
- Identify the roles and practice parameters of individuals who provide health-related services in the community
- Utilize a range of community resources when creating a plan of care for patients and their families
- Understand how to work with community based organizations when providing care to families in need
- Describe eligibility criteria for services available for uninsured and/or fiscally needy
- Describe the impact of zoning, development, and migration on health
- Describe the cultural make up of San Diego’s refugee communities
- Describe the refugee resettlement process, barriers and challenges refugees face
- Understand the specific health concerns of the community
- A PRIME-HEq student interested in moving to a community to provide care in a Community Health Center might be interested in obtaining a Masters in Public Health in order to best match the services of the health center to the community’s needs.
- A PRIME-HEq student interested in returning to their hometown where no physician practices might be interested in a Masters in Business Administration in order to help make the financial case for opening a new medical office.
- A PRIME-HEq student interested in making an impact beyond the community in which she practices might be interested in obtaining a Master’s in Public Policy in order to work more effectively with elected leaders to affect policy change to meet the needs of her patients as well as others.
Opportunities for Master’s Degrees
PRIME-HEq students are given the opportunity to enhance their cultural competency and knowledge of traditionally underserved communities through excursions, performances, and presentations, including program-sponsored community tours, theatrical productions, and conferences. The following list provides examples of program-sponsored activities:
