Presentation Title
Educational barriers and the impact on the diversity of healthcare
Abstract
The Health Science undergraduate program through the University of Vermont has a service learning component as part of our senior year curriculum. Through this service learning, we were placed with the Northern Vermont Area Health Education Center (AHEC), where we will be spending the semester serving as mentors in Winooski Middle School MedTrek program. The after-school program is designed to spark an interest in STEM and Healthcare at an early age by exposing students to different areas of healthcare. In the Winooski School District, there are 25 nationalities representing 19 languages and around 32% of students receive English as a second language services. In addition to our time spent each week in Winooski, we will be revising the Cultural Competency Resource Manual for AHEC. Furthermore, there is an academic component to our service learning which is a research project. We will be investigating the barriers that are present in educational settings that contribute to a lack of diversity in health and healthcare. As part of our project, we will conduct a literature review, build a community asset map, conduct stakeholder interviews & analysis, and look at current practices. Our final product will be a recommendation for combatting the barriers in educational settings, with the goal of further diversifying the healthcare workforce.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Deborah Hinchey
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Program/Major
Health Sciences
Primary Research Category
Health Sciences
Educational barriers and the impact on the diversity of healthcare
The Health Science undergraduate program through the University of Vermont has a service learning component as part of our senior year curriculum. Through this service learning, we were placed with the Northern Vermont Area Health Education Center (AHEC), where we will be spending the semester serving as mentors in Winooski Middle School MedTrek program. The after-school program is designed to spark an interest in STEM and Healthcare at an early age by exposing students to different areas of healthcare. In the Winooski School District, there are 25 nationalities representing 19 languages and around 32% of students receive English as a second language services. In addition to our time spent each week in Winooski, we will be revising the Cultural Competency Resource Manual for AHEC. Furthermore, there is an academic component to our service learning which is a research project. We will be investigating the barriers that are present in educational settings that contribute to a lack of diversity in health and healthcare. As part of our project, we will conduct a literature review, build a community asset map, conduct stakeholder interviews & analysis, and look at current practices. Our final product will be a recommendation for combatting the barriers in educational settings, with the goal of further diversifying the healthcare workforce.