197559 G.I.R.L.S. (getting into real life science) and the health professions

Monday, November 9, 2009

Osato Iyamu, MHS , Office of School Health Programs, The New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY
Joanne De Simone Eichel, MA , Office of School Health Programs, The New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY
Sejal Gandhi, MA, CHES , Office of School Health Programs, The New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY
  
The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM), Office of School Health Programs is implementing an educational initiative, G.I.R.L.S. (Getting into Real Life Science) and Health Professions, designed to increase the participation of historically underrepresented minority women (African-American, Hispanic, and Native American) in careers in public health, science, and medicine. The G.I.R.L.S. program launched in school year 2008-09 targets underserved minority girls in grades 7-9 in New York City public middle schools in the East Harlem. The initiative provides a wide range of after-school learning opportunities including academic support and enrichment needed to thrive in high school, college, and graduate school; hands-on exploration of a variety of careers in public health, science and medicine; and positive interaction and mentoring experiences with minority women health professionals. The program provides gender-specific learning opportunities to promote resilience, 21st century life skills, and health skills development. Activities incorporate the cultural context of girls' lives and address societal issues that present challenges to success. Dynamic opportunities to practice non-academic competencies such as leadership, creativity, responsibility, curiosity, problem-solving, higher order thinking, and public speaking skills are integrated into the program activities. The program includes educational opportunities for the girls in tandem with their mothers, caregivers, or other women in their lives who can serves as allies and support for their academic, career, personal, and health goals. Preliminary data will be presented. Capacity building handouts will be provided.

Learning Objectives:
Describe 3 key program components designed to build the capacity of historically underrepresented minority women (African-American, Hispanic, and Native American) to pursue careers in public health, science, and medicine. Describe 5 non-academic competencies to support program goals.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Academically, my degree program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has trained me in the established, core disciplines of public health. Graduate-level coursework in health education and health promotion, implementation and sustainability, program evaluation, communication strategies, and management has provided me with interdisciplinary competencies and the theoretical know-how to develop effective interventions geared toward behavior change. Professionally, I am the Project Director for the G.I.R.L.S. Program (Getting Into Real Life Science) and Health Professions at The New York Academy of Medicine, Office of School Health Programs. In this capacity, I have been involved in program planning, recruitment, evaluation and currently program implantation. Additionally, I am well-versed on the program components and its implementation as I have presented the program over 15 times in the past two months.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Academic Public Health Caucus Poster Session I
See more of: Academic Public Health Caucus