SALUD 2020 Session 2: Bull City’s Food

Our students went on a field trip to SEEDS! This incredible organization partnered with us to host our students as they learned more about food insecurity, healthy eating without sacrificing cultural roots, and working in a team as they volunteered in gardening activities and made each other a delicious lunch meal. Root Causes member Elana Horwitz presented first as students learned concepts related to and examples of food justice. Our students also further explored their college aspirations and made flags that represent their values and goals. The scholars ended the day tasked with designing an intervention or creative presentation related to food justice. Check it out below!

 

SALUD 2020 Orientation and Session 1: Bull City’s Health

SALUD 2020 is off to a great start! We had our first ever orientation session and it was great to have so many parents involved and asking questions. Migrant Roots Media was our partner for helping to introduce the concepts of community and social justice to the students and Dr. Gaby Nagy worked with parents to identify how we can best serve our new families. It was so great to see previous scholars and parents come for a panel on what SALUD means to them – I personally was blown away by what they had to say. Be sure to check out the Scholars page to meet our SALUD Scholars cohort!

On Oct 12, we had our first real session! First, medical student Tim and Nikki led tours through the medical school. One highlight was students seeing the 4th floor portraits and noticing how class diversity has changed over time. Afterwards, students broke up into their mentor groups and were led on tours of the undergraduate campus! They saw highlights like the Innovation Co-Lab, Perkins, the Gothic Reading Room, Student Wellness, Bryan Center, and Wilson Gym. We ended the tour at West Union for lunch and students shared 3 goals they hope to accomplish by the end of the program. We headed back to Duke Med for a fun icebreaker and then dived into the curriculum. We defined social determinants of health and our students shared great insights about their experiences. We explored the history of Durham and students shared what they notice about their different neighborhoods. This was taken to another level after John Killeen, Executive Director of DataWorks NC shared the awesome neighborhood compass and challenged the students to learn more about the environments they live in. Our students asked great questions, including asking John how this data informs his beliefs about the capacity for changing our community. We ended the day with a session on Match/Fit: Finding the Right College For You with Duke College Advising Corps member Rafay Malik! Students used tools to identify the best colleges for student profiles. Next week they’ll start looking at the best schools for themselves! It was an amazing day and I know this year will be special.

 

SALUD Session 12: Migrant Stories, Clinical Skills, and Commencement Ceremony

June 15th, 2019 was the last day of SALUD 2019! It was a wonderful day. First, Migrant Roots Media talked to our students about the basic concepts of social justice by exploring the root causes of migration and the lived experiences of immigrants in the United States. This was a wonderful session – it gave students an opportunity to further explore their identities and how they and their loves ones navigate living in a country that does not always accept them. It was also very engaging! It was inspiring to see how students had grown over the course of the semester and the confidence they displayed in participating and sharing their perspectives.

The last few hours were spent on the 5th floor of Trent Seman’s Surgical Education and Activities Lab (SEAL) to use some of the very same technology and tools medical professionals use to hone their clinical skills. Very grateful to the busy 2nd year medical students who took time out of their busy schedules to spend a few hours with our students! Students got to use ultrasound machines, best medical student speed times with laproscopic tools, use a Da-Vinci surgery machine, practice intubation, and learn the basics of knot tying and suturing. I was blown away with how skilled the students became over the course of such a short instructional period. One student and I even had a competition to see who could intube the safest and fastest!

Finally, we had the commencement ceremony. Family, friends, sponsors, and staff gathered to celebrate SALUD and the achievements of our brilliant students. Dr. Gaby Nagy was our key note speaker and talked about her experiences of navigating higher education as a Latina. My favorite moment was when a few of the students went to the front to talk about what SALUD meant to them… It touched my heart and was such a powerful reminder of why our team works so hard to serve these students. Their words were beautifully said and meant so much to the entire team. Afterwards, we celebrated with photos! It was truly a great experience to see our students excited with each other and their families.

Afterwards, the SALUD team met until past midnight to celebrate and plan for SALUD 2020. We have so much more in store, so stay tuned for what we will do next year!

 

SALUD Session 11: “Funders Day!” and Farmworker Health

This past Saturday was our next-to-last session! I was especially excited for this as I had been looking forward to it all semester. After watching Harvest of Dignity, our students learned from a panel on a vulnerable population that faces many health and socioeconomic inequities – farmworkers. The panel consisted of

  • Dr. Gayle Thomas, family physician and Medical Director of the NC Farmworker Health Program
  • Osiel Alanis, former farmworker and Behavioral Health Operations Assistant for the NC Farmworker Health Program, and
  • Andrea Mendoza, Duke ’15 and former alumnus of Student Action with Farmworkers

Afterwards, we challenged our students in an activity that put to use their skills and knowledge gained over the past year. Our students were tasked with 90 minutes to design and pitch a business proposal for a comprehensive community clinic/center in rural NC. Their solution had to address farmworker needs that incorporated issues that we’ve discussed so far in SALUD, ie. mental health, substance abuse, cardiovascular disease, obesity/nutrition, food insecurity, sexual health, intimate partner violence, etc.. They presented their proposals to the fictionalized “NC Commission for Farmworker Health” whose board consisted of:

  • Dr. Tony Fuller, Director of Research for Duke Global Neurosurgery,
  • Dr. Erin Van Scoyoc of the Carrboro Community Health Center,
  • Chi Vo, Program Coordinator for Duke Community Service, and
  • Dr. Monica Alvarez, medical student and long-time Durham community member

I am so proud of what our students were able to do in such a short amount of time and their ability to deliver under pressure. Not only were they holistic in their approaches, but they came up with thoughtful and innovative ideas on how to tackle long-standing and complicated disparities for a vulnerable population. Whether it was environmentally conscious yet medically comprehensive mobile clinics, 24/7 solutions with wrap-around social services, or centers rooted in community-engagement and trust, we were all impressed by their proposals and on-the-spot thinking to answer tough questions from board members.

In 11th grade, our students have now learned the basics of identifying systemic causes of health disparities, assessing needs of vulnerable communities, broadly identifying key stakeholders, incorporating community resources to design comprehensive interventions, and pitching a proposal to funders. 

Two more weeks and we’ll be done with SALUD 2019!

SALUD Sessions 9 and 10: Trauma, Bicultural Stress, and Substance Use Disorders

Not many pictures to post this time, but there’ll be more next time for sure! In session 9, students dove deeper into Adverse Childhood Events (ACE) and biculturalism. They explored how these stressors are linked (#correlationnotcausation) to negative coping strategies such as substance abuse and further delved into the devastating effects the war on drugs has forced upon communities of color. Dr. Jewel Scott from the School of Nursing and Hyun Namkoong from the NC Justice Center led these discussions, followed by student reflection and identity mapping of their personal and bicultural strengths.

In session 10 we workshopped their personal statement!! This is a challenge that can really make or break a college application and our students were able to get a headstart on the process. It was inspiring to learn more about their stories and get them to start thinking about how much they have to offer these historically exclusive institutions. In addition to learning more about interprofessional teams in medicine, they also got to think about and troubleshoot challenges that first-generation students face when starting their first semesters. Hopefully they feel more prepared as they wrap up the academic year and become seniors!

Next session we will focus more specifically on farmworker health and challenge our students to design and present a proposal for a comprehensive clinic/community center for farm-workers in rural NC. They will be utilizing all the knowledge and skills gained throughout the semester without mentor help, and present to a panel of community members and advocates. Excited to see what they come up with!

Last but not least, here’s our new Duke-official website!

https://sites.duke.edu/salud/

SALUD Sessions 7 and 8: Sexual Health, Machismo, and Intimate Partner Violence

We recently finished sessions 7 and 8 of SALUD! In the first session, the students learned about HIV disparities in the rural South, especially as it pertains to the Latinx community. Joaquín Carcaño and Judith Isabel Montenegro gave excellent talks and led discussions around safe sex, advocacy, and breaking down education barriers. In session 8, Gaby Nagy, the NC Compass Center, and Shift NC led talks and activities related to intimate partner violence and unhealthy relationship behaviors. We frequently touched upon the concept of machismo and how violence is perpetuated. It is rewarding to see the students tackle a difficult but important topic and gaining a sense of empowerment about protecting themselves and their loved ones.

SALUD Sessions 5 and 6: Mental Health, Stigma, Resilience

Before I dive into SALUD’s mental health sessions, I want to share some thoughts. For the most part, mental illness – especially as it relates to depression/anxiety/trauma – is hard to see.It’s impossible to know the pain and suffering someone is experiencing on the inside.There are infinite reasons why someone might not seek the help they need. The symptoms alone can be devastating but starting the long and arduous – but necessary – journey towards a better future can be just as overwhelming. It’s understandable that people are afraid of taking that step. However, asking for help is the antithesis of weakness. Asking for help shows immense courage. If you are struggling and need help, here are some resources:

Ntl Suicide Prevention Lifeline 18002738255
SAMHSA’s National Helpline – 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
Ntl Child Abuse Hotline 18004224453
Ntl Sexual Assault Hotline 8006564673
Ntl Domestic Abuse Hotline 8007997233
http://www.pleaselive.org/hotlines/
http://durham.nc.networkofcare.org/…/serv…/subcategory.aspx…

If you are in urgent crisis, you can go to Carolina Outreach’s Behavioral Health Urgent Care https://carolinaoutreachbhuc.com/
Alliance Behavioral Health https://www.alliancehealthplan.org/…/cri…/crisis-facilities/
https://www.alliancehealthplan.org/…/mobile-crisis-services/
or call 9-1-1

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Today was SALUD’s second session regarding mental health! Two weeks ago, we started off with handling “the most complex organ in the human body” (shoutout to Dr. White’s classic quote) in a brain anatomy session led by Camilo Toro Restrepo. Gaby Nagy introduced them to mental health and stigma and Dr. Feliu talked about the neurobiology of pain.They explored depression, anxiety, stress, PTSD and substance use disorders.Thanks Laura Stilwell for helping put together that case vignette! Today at El Futuro, they further explored self-care, resiliency, coping skills, and alternative methods of therapy. They worked to identify how the different environments they live in succeed or fail at addressing mental health needs.Their ideas for fostering community and resiliency on a personal and communal level were thoughtful and comprehensive.They learned about valuable community resources and the amazing work El Futuro does to provide accessible, affordable, and culturally-sensitive care to the Latinx community in Durham and across NC. They even got to provide input on their upcoming mural!

These two sessions were incredibly meaningful to me. I shared my own mental health story with the group.I never shy away from discussing mental health, but sharing on a more personal level can be scary, difficult, and exhausting.That’s why I was absolutely humbled and inspired by the vulnerability and strength our students showed. Every week, I feel so honored to work with them.

Alex Villeda

SALUD Session 4: Obesity, Diabetes, and Heart Disease

Late post, but last Saturday was the 4th session of SALUD! We started off with a presentation by Julian Xie trom Root Causes that explored obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke as a consequence of food insecurity/access/availability. We then went to the lab rooms to dive into the anatomy and physiology of the heart. We also had another incredible lunch panel with Tony Fuller, Monica Alvarez, Ricky Anjorin, and Fred Heller where students heard stories of struggle and success from accomplished and compassionate individuals. Finally, our students were challenged to come up with interventions to address the “root causes” (pun intended) of these diseases in underserved communities. It’s inspiring to see their critical thinking skills already improving as they think about these issues from a broad perspective. Complex problems require complex solutions and I feel so fortunate to see their brains working hard processing the magnitude of systemic health disparities.

SALUD Session 3: Nutrition and Food Insecurity

Yesterday was SALUD Session 3! We started off with an excellent presentation by Elana Horwitz that got students thinking about the food system and food insecurity. The entire team appreciated how she repeatedly validated student experiences, questions, and comments. Afterwords, they broke up into small groups with Ana Gomez Dakota Douglas Anna Lytchakov and Lissa Neira to come up with interventions or presentations regarding food availability and access in their own communities. Later, Cassy Fiorino Tony Fuller Ariana Paniagua Camilo Toro Restrepo and I tried out our acting as standardized patients! (I didn’t have to act being sick 

SALUD SESSION 2: 1/26/19 College Admissions and Financial Aid

Yesterday was session 2 of SALUD! It was very education-focused: students gained skills in breaking down and critically analyzing scholarly literature, were inspired by incredible people that shared their stories and strengths, (thanks Santiago, Eliana, Samantha, Carmen, Emily, and Rafeal!!!) and learned valuable information about college admissions and financial aid, thanks to the fantastic College Advising Corps (Patrick Cardel, Michael Choi, Girija Mahajan). We also had 20 parents show up for a special Spanish-only workshop, led by Lina Palancares! So great to see everyone’s efforts at making sure our students and their families are better prepared for the crazy college application process. We have a total of 3 sessions dedicated to education because the link between education and mortality are clear. Here’s a good start to learn more about why education should be considered a population health issue:

https://www.ahrq.gov/…/cur…/population-health/zimmerman.html

Excited to start the health disparities portion of the curriculum. The next two sessions will focus on nutrition, food insecurity, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular health, with presentations by Julian Xie from Root Causes https://www.facebook.com/groups/rootcauses/about/

Alex Villeda