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Discussion: Educational Event and Advocacy Efforts In Progress
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sezaeh |
Educational Event and Advocacy Efforts In Progress
Mar 6 2009, 7:51 AM EST
With the AMSA convention rapidly approaching, I thought I would post a quick update on the progress of my educational and advocacy events. For my educational work, I have written a teaching case study regarding mental health and psychosocial services for youth in post-conflict Sierra Leone. For context, Sierra Leone suffered from an eleven year Civil War that ended in 2002 (think Blood Diamond). Today, the country remains among the poorest in the world and has a lack of general health infrastructure (leading to extremely high maternal and child mortality rates). Youth are among the most vulnerable populations - many lack basic education (due to the large number of years the country was at war) and remain unemployed. The case asks students to think about issues that impact post conflict countries like Sierra Leone and consider where mental health and psychosocial services for youth fit within the system. With my adviser at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Theresa Betancourt, a preliminary version of the case was taught one week ago to a class of approximately 20 students at HSPH. The discussion seemed to go well, though it highlighted various issues which need to be addressed as I continue to revise the overall product. When I have finalized the case, I am happy to post it to this website and hear feedback! My advocacy work continues along the youth in post-conflict theme. I am currently working with a team from the Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research regarding the development of a set of teaching materials specifically concerning the needs of youth in various post-conflict settings. The project is in its beginning stages, but I see it as a powerful way to teach professionals who are heading off for work in the field about the importance of youth concerns in post-conflict settings. Do you find this valuable?
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DHaisch |
1. Educational Event and Advocacy Efforts In Progress
Mar 22 2009, 10:22 AM EDT
Since February, I've been working on putting together a multidisciplinary panel to have a substantive discussion about refugee health. We're planning to bring in a physician who works in international emergency medicine, a lawyer who works with UNHCR and international refugee law, someone who is developing emerging technologies for use in the field, and perhaps a journalist who has reported on the situation of refugees in the developing world. Because of coordinating all of these schedules, things have been coming together more slowly than I'd hoped, but we're really excited to see it happening. As we narrow the topic and refine our list of questions for the panelists, I'll definitely update here. The advocacy event is much smaller--just a small-group discussion planned with the Social Medicine Reading Group here. Interestingly, it's been a challenge to find an article within the medical literature for discussion. It seems that explicit consideration of advocacy as a part of the physician's role is lacking in much of the literature (at least as far as PubMed is concerned!), as well as within our curriculum. My hope is that our discussion will spark our thinking on the subject and be an impetus for us to seek out opportunities here in New York. As for the paper, I've actually shifted away from the standard consideration of refugee health (cholera outbreaks among people displaced by political conflict, for example) and have written about the impact of the first-world system on the health of incoming "economic refugees," focusing on migrant workers in the US. One of our professors is currently reading it, and I'll be working with one of my classmates to edit it and submit it for publication. Do you find this valuable? |
