![]() Hello, my name is Jack Wong, and I am a first-year AmeriCorps VISTA serving at the University of Michigan (U-M). I was born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI. This past August, I graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in kinesiology, specializing in health promotion. Next fall, I begin a master’s program in public health at U-M. My primary placement site is the College of Pharmacy, where I have been working on a variety of projects over the past six months, the most significant of which has been to expand an innovative, interprofessional service-learning course. Enrolled college students can select from a variety of placement sites, however, I advocate for Community Action Network (CAN) and Peace Neighborhood Center. Both sites offer after school programs (ASP) for economically disadvantaged K-12 students in Washtenaw County. The U-M students who elect to serve at the sites have an opportunity to lead health lessons and activities in addition to tutoring the children. This semester, we are focusing on the theme of environments and health. That is, how we impact the environment and how our environments can affect our health. The idea is to have the children develop a sense of responsibility for their center, school, and community. In past semesters, service-learning students could choose to serve at only two CAN sites. I recently played an important role in expanding the CAN placements to include two additional sites managed by fellow VISTAs, Stephen Crano and Meghan Gieseker. Both sites are at local elementary schools, providing the service-learning students a greater opportunity to utilize school resources and space in order to promote learning and physical activity. The children also seem to be more receptive and focused in their school environment, making this partnership even more rewarding for the students and the children they work with. As part of an ongoing initiative to recruit non-pharmacy students, for whom the course is elective, and to increase the course visibility, I created a course webpage and posted an article highlighting my work and the importance of service-learning (https://pharmacy.umich.edu/service). I also helped make the course available to undergraduate kinesiology students. This semester, in addition to eight other non-pharmacy students, fourteen kinesiology students enrolled in the course. This is a fourfold increase in non-pharmacy enrollment from last semester and the first time the course has had significant representation from other disciplines. As the role of the health team becomes more prominent, it is increasingly important that there be opportunities for health science students from different disciplines to dialogue and collaborate. The service-learning course and sites benefit from the different perspectives of interprofessional teams of students. Also, the more diverse array of students exposed to the community, the greater their collective understanding of the determinants of health, knowledge that can be applied to their future work in health professions. So far, I have really enjoyed my experience as a VISTA, but there is still much to be done to ensure the sustainability of my projects. I look forward to continuing my involvement at U-M and in the community.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Blog ArchivesJanuary 2020
December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 June 2014 Each blog post was written by one of our VISTAs!
Blog Authors
All
|