This edition of The Pulse highlights the significant engagement of our students, staff, and faculty in our communities: our surrounding geographic communities, our medical profession communities, and our UH community. Next month we will highlight our engagement in the global community: over spring break, 13 of our MS1 students, 2 staff, and 3 faculty travelled to a village in rural Honduras and provided medical and vision care to 350 patients, as well as health education presentations to students at the local school; we had a great time serving the community, learning, and playing together. Community engagement is one of the four pillars of our medical school’s mission, and I am grateful for and proud of our community engagement endeavors!
- Steve Spann
"The College of Medicine is unique in that it provides an avenue to meet and learn directly from community members. This avenue allows for a deeper understanding of community health and creates community-centered approaches by considering the whole person and their environment. This is why I chose to work here; I wanted to make a meaningful impact on the development of the Household Centered Care/Healthy Connections program and contribute to the creation of a holistic approach to education and community engagement, where interdisciplinary collaboration plays a crucial role in community health.
My favorite part of working at the College is being able to work alongside community health workers and learning about the importance of trust building, peer support and strength-based approaches when working with communities. Building trust within the community is essential for developing comprehensive approaches to service delivery in various sectors, such as healthcare, social services, and education."
"I am originally from Tampico, Mexico, and am a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient. In my free time I love reading, comic books, manga, movies, anime, cooking, hiking, camping, and biking. Recently I completed the 20-mile Tour de Houston bike event, and my goal is to complete the 40-mile ride next year. I also find the time to volunteer with several non-profits and organizations in the Houston area that help with immigration forums and applications, event planning, interpretation, translation or presentations."
The UH Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine is proud to announce the next class of Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Houston-Galveston fellows: Jasmin Ali (MS1), Alejandra Duque (MS1), Cassie Leissner (MS1), Jessica Medrano (MS2), Ashlynn McCall (MS2) and Matthew Mendoza (MS1).
Members of our Student National Medical Association (SNMA) Chapter attended the SNMA Annual Medical Education Conference in New Orleans! Students participated in workshops, presented their research, and networked with medical societies, residency and fellowship programs, and fellow medical students.
Earlier this month, Kelly House (MS1) and Tra’Von Manning (MS2) partnered with Emily Paul to demonstrate an acute emergency situation to the UH Football players and staff. They demonstrated the AHA protocol for identifying someone in need of CPR, how to clear the scene, how to ask for EMS and for instructing a bystander to obtain an automated external defibrillator (AED).
After they did a live demonstration, each football player would present themselves in front of a CPR dummy and were taught proper chest compression depth, rate, and rhythm until the whole team received training, including coaches. It was a great experience helping teach proper CPR because this may translate to a real-life situation, as was seen last year during a live game in the NFL. Overall, educating the UH football team was an incredible opportunity to increase the medical knowledge in our community.
We continue to grow our dynamic team of consummate professionals. Let us welcome the newest members to join our college:
Stefanie Lapka received the 2024 Leadership Pathways Award from the Network of the National Library of Medicine, Region 3 (NNLM R3). The purpose of the Leadership Pathways Award is to create a pathway for current early-to-mid-career librarians to explore leadership roles within the health sciences library profession. The award focuses on exploring and developing management skills with guidance from experienced health sciences library managers, who will introduce the award recipient to the managerial and supervisory responsibilities of a health science library unit, which can include fiscal and administrative duties. Congratulations to Stefanie on such a great accomplishment.
The College of Medicine Staff Council hosted a Lunch & Learn earlier this month. Dr. Tres Radford presented on Building Effective Relationships at Work. The presentation discussed active listening techniques that enable colleagues to listen to lead.
The Fertitta Family College of Medicine hosted the 12th Annual Global Health Conference this month. The Houston Global Health Collaborative is a collection of individuals from various institutions and organizations throughout the Texas Medical Center and greater Houston area dedicated to realizing the vision of seeing the area as global leader in global health research, service and education. The conference theme was “Global Health Diplomacy: Shaping Policies for Health Impact” and featured sub-themes of Global Surgery, Vaccine Diplomacy, Global Nutrition Crisis, and The Prevalence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
Earlier this month, faculty, staff and students alike ventured outside and were able to witness the spectacular solar eclipse. Although the cloudy weather made it a bit difficult to see this celestial event, we were able to still use our glasses and view the eclipse. Do you have pictures of the eclipse? Tag us @UHMedicine!
Maya Fontenot (MS4) and Alex Gibson (MS1) spoke on a panel where Honors Engineering students asked about their journeys and respective experiences in medical school.
Congratulations to Alechia Abioye and her team for successfully completing the College of Medicine’s inaugural Match Day. Months of preparation and careful consideration allowed for our first class to have a memorable Match Day. Thank you for your dedication and hard work!
Mahbub Hossain, M.D., M.P.H., DR.P.H. received the 2024 Population Health Publication Award for his paper titled “Living with ‘Long COVID’: A systemic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence”.
Neena Arora, M.H.A., M.B.A. joined us as the new Assistant Vice-President and CEO of our UH Health Family Care Center. Neena brings a wealth of health care management experience to her new position. She began her career in health care with the Houston Methodist Physician’s Organization in 2007. After graduating with her dual master’s in health care and business administration in 2009, she went on to work with the underserved community at federally qualified health centers in the Houston area (Vecino Health Center and Legacy Community Health Services) where she excelled in performance improvement, operations and risk management. In 2013, she began working at San José Clinic, one of the city’s oldest safety-net clinics that serves the uninsured population. She first served as a Director of Quality, helping standardize quality and operational metrics amongst charity clinics in the local area. She then went on to serve as the clinic’s Director of Operations and Chief Operations Officer. In 2021, Neena, wanting to be part of an organization that makes a greater impact in the community, began working in Houston Methodist’s Community Benefits department where she oversaw the Community Scholars program. One of the system’s most important initiatives, this program allows residents and fellows the opportunity to practice clinical care in a community health care setting.
Neena is very dedicated to helping the underserved community receive access to quality health care. She is excited to be part of a team and organization that carries the same values and mission. Please join us in welcoming Neena to the UH Health Family Care Center and the UH Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine family!
Representatives from Healthy Connections and the UH Health Family Care Center attended the HAUL Community Block Party, providing screenings and education for maintaining a healthy blood pressure. Attendees enjoyed free Zumba classes, health education, resource navigation, games and activities for all ages!
The African American Male Wellness Agency (AAMWA) Black Men’s Wellness Day was held at TDECU stadium. It featured health screenings, education, a vendor and resource fair and the event closed out with a 5K. Students from the College of Medicine and doctors from the Family Care Center screened for high blood pressure, glucose and lipid levels, and provided individual results-consultations with participants.
The UH Health Family Care Center would like to welcome Suzan Skef, M.D., M.S., as one of our newest providers. Skef will be providing care in Family Medicine.
Do you have something you’d like to share college wide? Email uhcomcom@central.uh.edu with details for consideration in next month’s edition of The Pulse.
