{"id":209555,"date":"2024-02-07T11:01:25","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T16:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=209555"},"modified":"2024-02-08T11:46:54","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T16:46:54","slug":"community-informed-learning-experience-for-uconn-med-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/02\/community-informed-learning-experience-for-uconn-med-students\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Community-Informed Learning\u2019 Experience for UConn Med Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 100 members of the UConn School of Medicine Class of 2027 have a fresh perspective they\u2019ll be able to apply as physicians: that of members of a community that historically struggles with health disparities.<\/p>\n

In a Hartford neighborhood known as the North Hartford Promise Zone, at the Phillips Metropolitan CME Church Jan. 26, heard first-hand accounts of residents’ experiences with health equity challenges.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Kirsten Ek is an assistant professor of medicine and the UConn School of Medicine’s course director. (Kristin Wallace\/UConn Health Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An \u201copportunity for community-informed learning\u201d is how Dr. Kirsten Ek<\/a>, assistant professor of medicine and the school\u2019s course director, describes it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this symposium, leaders from around the community generously shared their knowledge and vision with our students for how we can collaborate to close the unacceptable life expectancy gap that exists in North Hartford compared to surrounding neighborhoods,\u201d Ek says. \u201cBy learning directly from our community and its leaders, we better inform the care our training physicians provide.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the second consecutive year the UConn Medical Student Health Equity Symposium was held at the Phillips Metropolitan CME Church<\/a>, where Angela Harris is chair of the Phillips Health Ministry and member of the Connecticut Health Foundation-sponsored Health Equity Collaborative.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only was there an exchange of ideas on the assets and resources available in North Hartford, but there were also opportunities to identify challenges that these medical students could acknowledge and assist with mitigating to move the systems that they will work in towards health equity, wherever they end up practicing,” Harris says. “A special thank you to Dr. Kirsten Ek, the visionary to develop this customized curriculum and to all our community partners who volunteered their time and expertise towards the greater good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stefan Marczuk is his class’ representative and helped organize the symposium.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeaking with community members about ongoing initiatives in North Hartford was a great way to engage with our partners in health equity as students,\u201d Marczuk says. \u201cThis opportunity to learn about the factors that threaten our patients\u2019 health and the goals we can support to improve resident longevity helped me understand how I can help advocate for change outside the classroom now, and outside the clinic in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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First-year UConn medical students listen to Courtenay Jackson, from the North Hartford Promise Zone and Hartford’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, give opening remarks at the UConn Medical Student Health Equity Symposium Jan. 26, 2024. (Photo by Angela Harris)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Learning objectives included analyzing how where people live and the social determinants of health they face can impact life expectancy, and identifying protective factors and threats to health equity and longevity in a vulnerable community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a medical student who is not from Connecticut or the Hartford area, I enjoyed learning about different nonprofits and outreach programs that I connect my current and future patients to,\u201d says classmate Katrina Jackson.<\/p>\n

Adds fellow first-year student Ana Rive, \u201cIt was inspiring to hear about the organizations helping link patients to resources at the community level and advocate for change at the institutional level, and how I can do my part to help as a future physician.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wide
Angela Harris addresses UConn medical students at a symposium in the Phillips Metropolitan CME Church, where she chairs the Phillips Health Ministry. Harris and others who live or work in Hartford’s North End shared their experiences with health equity challenges in their neighborhood, Jan. 26, 2024. (Photo provided by Kirsten Ek)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The panelists included community stakeholders and residents seeking to address disparities that lead to health outcomes that compare unfavorably to peers in other neighborhoods and nearby towns.<\/p>\n