Tag Archives: SNMA

New US Census Data Shows Diversity of US Population Increasing

We are approaching a new highpoint in the prevalence of US residents who were born outside the country.”  This is part of a message on the Director’s Blog of the US Census Bureau website that is aimed at the marketing industry, at advertisers of goods and services, but we at CFHI believe it is also important information for current and future health professionals.

While the Census Bureau is providing this new data, none of the basic trends of an increasingly diverse population for the United States should be a surprise to us.  Forward thinking health professionals and medical educators have seen the indications of these trends for many years.  Health science students (including medical students, nursing students, and public health students) have not waited for courses to be developed by the data that is now beginning to be analyzed, but have taken the initiative to seek out medical electives and rotations that would give them first-hand experience of different cultures and the different ways people view health around the world.

Source: US Census Bureau -Director's Blog

With some 6,000 alumni of CFHI Global Health Immersion Programs to date, we hear over and over again from them how their CFHI experience gave them insight into the role that culture plays in health and healthcare.  Tenny Lee, a 2010 CFHI Mexico alum, reports: “My experience in Mexico has given my medical career a foundation to help underserved communities and break though language and cultural barriers.”  You can read more about her CFHI experience  in her review posted on the website Great Nonprofits.  The ability to competently serve a more widely diverse patient population will clearly become the expectation for health professionals, as we can see from the wealth of information that the US Census Bureau is releasing.

One of the most important data points released so far is that the Hispanic population of the US now exceeds 50 Million, a 43% increase since the last census as reported by CNN.  And it is not just in border states in the south.  The CNN article quotes demographer Jeffrey Passel at the Pew Hispanic Center as saying, “Previously, the Hispanic population was concentrated in eight or nine states; it is now spread throughout the country.”

Medical schools, organizations, and institutions of higher learning have also recognized these trends, and CFHI has been happy to work with many of them to design specific programs.  The Patient Advocacy Program at the Stanford Medical School began a program abroad with CFHI in 2007.  The University of California at Davis has partnered with CHFI for over five years now to offer a Bi-National Health Quarter Abroad program for undergraduates in special arrangement with the Chicana/o Studies Department at UCD.  Both of these programs also make use of CFHI’s built-in Spanish Language and Medical Spanish Instruction.  Students are also living with host families so they are immersed into the culture during the program.  Guided journaling and weekly meetings help students reflect and integrate what they are learning from their daily interactions.  CFHI is also working with others, including Northwestern University, The Student National Medical Association (SNMA), -which you can read more about in an earlier posting–  and the Public Health Institute in association with the Global Health Fellows Program.  CFHI has been able to partner with each group and use our 20 years of experience working at the grassroots level in underserved communities abroad to design programs that meet specific learning objectives that are achieved in real life settings with the help of local health professionals who have the unique expertise of the local healthcare system and the best understanding of the local culture.

Jessica Brown, a 2010 CFHI Ecuador alum, pulls it all together in her reflection about her CFHI experience:

“… [I] learned a wealth of information about health that extended beyond the Reproductive realm.”  Jessica goes on to say, “I learned a lot about Ecuador’s healthcare system by discussing health care access, education, socioeconomic class and ethnic background with my mentors and preceptors. I learned about how religion, education and customary social/cultural schools of thought (i.e. machismo) weigh heavily on Ecuador’s society, and individual minds; I saw how the cultural “way” dictated the population’s attitude towards healthcare, especially in Women’s Reproductive Health.

The moments that caused me to question belief systems in place within myself really stretched me beyond limits I never knew possible.  And it is these reflections upon the state of health care in Quito that can broaden my understanding of client needs, beliefs and culture here in the states.”

CFHI Teams Up with SNMA for Special Global Health Experience

CFHI Logo CFHI and SNMA have teamed up to present this new and specialized program that offers participants the opportunity to participate in a 2-week global health program in the city of Oaxaca Mexico!

The Student National Medical Association (SNMA) is the oldest and largest, student-run organization focused on the needs SNMA Logoand concerns of medical students of color.  For over 40 years SNMA has been dedicated to ensuring culturally sensitive medical education and services.  For 20 years, CFHI has been offering Global Health Immersion programs designed to help students appreciate the role that culture plays in health and healthcare.  By teaming up, CFHI and SNMA hope to make a Global Health experience accessible to more students.  This special 2-week program, previously open only to SNMA members, is now open to all health science students.  Space is limited so apply early.

The SNMA-CFHI 2-week Urban Primary Care in Oaxaca program aims to introduce students to the cultural competencies that are crucial for effective health care professionals. This program is tailored for those who wish to increase their cultural and linguistic competency as well as their understanding of the health factors affecting Latinos.

Oaxaca is an excellent setting for studying the healthcare system of Mexico and the healthcare practices of the population.  Students often hold the false assumption that the healthcare is available to all, but find in Oaxaca that poor and rural populations are increasingly unable to compete for scarce health resources.

CFHI programs offer participants the opportunity to learn more about health issues that transcend national borders, class, ethnicity, and cultural divisions.  By participating in CFHI’s global health education you will gain a unique insight into healthcare systems of developing countries and increase your cultural competency. Increasing one’s awareness of other cultures (cultural competency) is becoming increasingly relevant for healthcare professionals as industrialized countries become more ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse. Click here to read an article and learn more about why cultural competency is important for today’s healthcare workforce.

The program dates are June 3rd to June 18th. Please visit the CFHI website to learn more.

We look forward to having you join our grassroots work to build a global community in support of better healthcare for underserved communities and more globally aware health professionals!

Educate Advocate Empower -SNMA 2010

Report from the Student National Medical Association 2010 Conference

SNMA Conference 2010 Chicago

SNMA Conference 2010 Chicago

It is early Spring in Chicago and this is my first visit to the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) annual conference.  The SNMA is the oldest and largest independent student-run organization focused on the needs and concerns of medical students of color.  CFHI has supported this conference in the past and we have been happy to have the help of the SNMA in increasing awareness of CFHI programs to more and more students.  We have been looking forward to actually being here this year and as the conference begins, it is clear that the students who have assembled on this balmy weekend in Chicago have a great deal of interest and wonder about Global Health.

From the CFHI Table at the 2010 SNMA Annual Conference in Chicago

From the CFHI Table at the 2010 SNMA Annual Conference in Chicago

It is only the first day of the conference and the stream of students who have come to learn about CFHI programs has been almost nonstop.  This medical education conference carries the title Healthy Impact 2010: Educate, Advocate, Empower.  The goal is to further the SNMA mission to support the pursuits of current and future underrepresented minority medical students and successfully train clinically excellent, culturally competent, and socially conscious physicians.  The organization of the conference and its program are as impressive as the seriousness of the students.

Not even 24 hours on the ground here in Chicago, and already I have met CFHI alumni from CFHI programs in Bolivia, South Africa, and India.  I look forward to the coming days and the sharing of ideas and experiences.