Newsletter 2021.2

Hello Scholars,

It’s been a little while since the last newsletter—the month of February flew by for me.  I hope everyone is doing well.  
This newsletter offers sessions that we hope will fill gaps in your curricula, ways for Scholars to be involved in pipeline development for NH youth who are interested in health careers, as well as an invitation for our 2nd Year Scholars before they move on . . .
AND—welcome to our new Scholars from UNH’s Direct Entry Masters Nursing program!

Best wishes,
Kate

Upcoming Live Events/Opportunities

NH AHEC HS Scholar Opportunities

NH AHEC Health Service Scholars invited to apply

We are looking for Scholars to assist in the development and delivery of The Health Careers Institute at Dartmouth, a week-long virtual program for NH high school students.  Development will include assisting in conducting brief interviews of NH-based health care providers and public health policy experts, and designing case-based exercises for student engagement.  Delivery will include facilitation and other assistance during the program the last week of June, 2021.  Stipends available.  Please email me if interested in either or both roles.

Second Year Scholars: Host a lunch-n-learn!

Scholars in their second year of the AHEC program are invited to present on an aspect of health inequities or disparities of interest to them.  Assign an article, invite a special guest, share your research.  Sessions are interactive, inter-professional, and no longer than 45 min.  If you have an idea, let me know and I will help organize.  Use this opportunity to share your insight with your learning community!

The session below is hosted by the Southern NH AHEC and is available to NH AHEC HS Scholars. See link to registration below.

Cultures Forum: COVID Vaccine Hesitancy

Thursday, April 1, 2021, or Thursday, April 29 (12:30–1:30 pm)

Let’s learn from Latinx, African, Brazilian, African American, and other community members. Join us on Zoom to hear insider information from client and cultural perspectives. Live panelists will discuss beliefs and myths about COVID and its vaccines that are circulating in their communities. Their presentations are geared to help providers understand what types of education (a) are needed, (b) can build trust, and (c) will help community members take advantage of vaccination.

Learning Objectives
—List at least 3 barriers to getting the COVID vaccine (or healthcare generally), faced by the represented cultures/groups.
—Discuss the represented co-culture’s customs, beliefs and/or communication patterns and how they impact the receipt of care.
—Identify 3 practices on the part of providers that can help co-cultural community members comfortably utilize COVID vaccine clinics, healthcare generally, or/and other services.

Virtual Presenters
Community speakers from diverse backgrounds, moderated by Lynn Clowes, Cultural Effectiveness Trainer for Ascentria Care Alliance

Synchronous virtual. REGISTER HERE

The following live sessions are open to all.

Aging and Dying in Prison:  Integrating Geriatrics and Palliative Care into Criminal Justice Reform

Friday, March 19 (8:00 to 9:00 am)

LINK: Department of Medicine Grand Rounds

Dr. Brie Williams is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco in the UCSF Division of Geriatrics, and Director of AMEND at UCSF. Dr. Williams’ work focuses on integrating a public health and human rights perspective into criminal justice reform, including the consideration of physical health outcomes in the reform of solitary confinement policies; improving compassionate release policies for incarcerated patients with serious illness so that they are more aligned with the science of prognostication; and optimizing systems for recognizing and responding to disability, dementia, and serious illness in correctional facilities. Dr. Williams directs AMEND, a partnership with the Norwegian Correctional Service that draws on public health and Norwegian correctional principles to transform culture in US prisons so that the health, dignity and humanity of staff and residents is at the center of all programs and policies.

Learning Objectives
—Discuss epidemiologic aging trends in the criminal justice system.
—Briefly describe the health of incarcerated older adults.
—Introduce the “Aging Crisis” in prisons.
—Apply the science of geriatrics and palliative care to generate policy recommendations to address this crisis.

Presenter
Brie Williams, MD, MS, Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco; Director, AMEND; Co-Director, The ARCH (Aging Research in Criminal Justice Health) Network

Co-Sponsored by the Section of Palliative Medicine and the Department of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

The Urgency of Now: Health Disparities, Race and Racism

Thursday, March 11 (12:00 to 1:00 pm)
Thursday, March 25 (12:00 to 1:00 pm)
Thursday, April 1 (12:00 to 1:00 pm)
Thursday, April 8 (12:00 to 1:00 pm)
Thursday, April 29 (12:00 to 1:00 pm)
Thursday, May 6 (12:00 to 1:00 pm)
Thursday, May 13 (12:00 to 1:00 pm)
Thursday, May 20 (12:00 to 1:00 pm)
Thursday, May 27 (12:00 to 1:00 pm)

Geisel School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology, Virtual Seminar Series

Session Topics
—Indigenous Rights and Research
—Triple Negative Breast Cancer among African American Women: Ancestry-related Variation in Breast Cancer Disparities
—Health Challenges and Aging-related Care for Sexual Minority Adults: A Focus at the intersection between LGBTQ Status and Race
—Bioethics and the Legacy of Tuskegee
—Black Women’s Health Study Cohort
—Leveraging the Ancestry of Racially Mixed or Admixed Populations to Untangle Complex —Gene-Environment Interactions for Health and Disease
—NIH All of Us Research Program Cohort
—Addressing Race Disparities in Health-Related Outcomes: Orienting Frameworks for the Development of Policy and Interventions
—The Promise of Big Data.

Complex factors contribute to the varying patterns and distribution of health and disease observed within the US and globally such that relying on antiquated notions about racial difference proves insufficient as an explanation for racial and ethnic health disparities. Engage with us virtually as we critically delve into controversies around defining race within science and as we explore contemporary bioethics in relation to biobanking and research participation. Guiding our focus will be the promise of the Black Women’s Health Study and the All of Us Research Program of the NIH, which are large-scale cohort studies, alongside the emergence of international genomics research that incorporates ancestry. Prominent social and environmental determinants of health in the US, including structural racism, will also be highlighted. The recent events of 2020, marked by social unrest due to anti-Black racism and disproportionate mortality from COVID-19 among Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities, will undergird our discussions.

Email epidemiology@dartmouth.edu to RSVP or for additional details and seminar materials

AHEC Scholar sessions recorded live and in the Archive:

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and SUDs

Recorded January 21, 2021

Studies show that ACEs are significantly associated with the development in young adulthood of the most severe forms of SUDs. This session will give learners the most current framework for understanding this connection.

Presenters
Holly Gaspar, CCLS, CTRS (DHMC Faculty)
Rebecca Parton, MSW, LICSW (DHMC Faculty) 

An Overview of Epilepsy and Self-Management

Recorded January 19, 2021

This intro offers students an understanding of epilepsy and its treatment, common challenges people and families living with epilepsy face, and strategies for managing chronic disease and lifestyle choices that lessen the impact of epilepsy. This session will share with students opportunities they can explore to work as Cognitive Health Coaches, trained to provide one-on-one coaching to patients living with epilepsy in their homes via telehealth, to positively impact health outcomes and quality of life.  Social determinants of health and their impact on chronic disease management are a focus of this session.

Presenter
Elaine T. Kiriakopoulos, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College

Other recorded sessions:

COVID-19 and Rural Health Equity: Opportunities and Challenges in Northern New England

Recorded March 3, 2021

DHMC Pediatric Grand Rounds

Presenters
Elizabeth Carpenter-Song, PhD (Research Associate Professor, Dartmouth College)
Anne Sosin, MPH (Program Director, Center for Global Health Equity at Dartmouth College)

Log Reminder

Remember, log any Scholars-related activities online, either in the link under the calendar announcement of the event, or as an independent activity.  If you have been able to do independent clinical work or community service, please make sure to enter it in the Independent Activity Log.

Scholars’ Bios

Add your bio to our Scholars page! Please forward a photo (png, jpeg fine; as high a resolution as possible) and a brief introduction to yourself (150–250 words). You are welcome to re-use something you’ve already used elsewhere!