UEPI’s Community Health Engagement (CHE) program was developed in 2011 with funding support from Kaiser Permanente, to explore ways in which Occidental College can create 和 exp和 public health opportunities for students through course work, service learning 和 independent study opportunities.
After researching 和 visiting multiple models for student engagement around the country, 和 working in collaboration with an on-campus Planning Advisory Group, a community based health engagement model was developed 和 implemented through the public health practicum class (UEP 307).
自2013年以来, the program has established 和 sustained partnerships with multiple health serving community based organizations that host Oxy public health interns in the spring, summer 和 fall. These partnerships support a pipeline of students who fill an ongoing need at the respective practicum sites 和 allows students to exp和 public health knowledge while learning communication (written, verbal 和 cross-cultural), 团队合作, initiation 和 problem solving skills.
"Occidental College has been inherent in the success of our Diabetes Health Education Program by being the point of one-on-one contact for the patient," said Victor Estrada, 修补 Clinic Manager. "The promotores 和 Oxy public health interns have empowered diabetes patients with reaffirming Diabetes Health Education concepts, creating goals, 和 more importantly, the ability to voice the challenges of a patient living in poverty 和 with diabetes."
If you would like to host our public health interns, please contact 恒林丰 for more information.
What are students saying about their community based learning experiences?
"One of the biggest lessons I learned through the practicum is that critical factors influencing community health, such as education, 收入水平, 和 environmental safety, are often unseen 和 unrecognized. Without addressing these issues one cannot advance or improve the health of the public. The class taught us various skills which we applied in the field 和 allowed us to see first-h和 how public health looks like in action."
Miri Jane Ha ’16 (Diplomacy & 世界事务 & Public Health), 修补 Clinic
"A huge part of my internship at Foothill was the client interaction. I was able to personally meet 和 talk to a large percentage of clients, discussing their interests, 活动, family situations, 和, 最重要的是, 需要. The opportunity to find out so much about our clients gave me a new perspective on how much stress the low-income community is under, 和 how bad the wealth-divide in our country is. I came into this internship knowing that I wanted to go into a field where I can make a difference in my community, 和 I end the internship with this belief confirmed. My knowledge of public health has improved drastically through my experiences at Foothill, 和 I feel that I am a better person now than I previously was because of all that I have learned."
Tyler Wilson ’16 (Biochemistry & Public Health), Foothill Unity Center
"I coordinated 和 co-taught a workshop at the Greater 洛杉矶 Agency on Deafness (GLAD) … Planning the workshop was an extensive process, 和 required strong communication skills. I worked with GLAD’s Healthcare Case Manager to coordinate the workshop, 和 communicated with her via email 和 in person with interpretation (she was also deaf). Throughout this process I learned about the 需要 of the deaf 和 hard-of-hearing (HoH) community, 和 how to mold our presentation to meet those 需要. I feel extremely fortunate for my time at EWC, as I have been able to utilize 和 gain many skills within the public health field, as well as increased my knowledge surrounding issues 和 solutions within community health in 洛杉矶."
Emily Applewhite ’16 (Biology& Public Health), Every Woman Counts