Add a comment July 14th, 2008 by bronxdoc
Last Tuesday (7/8/2008) brought Dr. Jonathan Tobin from Yeshiva University’s Institute for Public Health Sciences to Social Medicine Rounds. He came to lead a showing and discussion of the PBS documentary Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? Dr. Tobin is well-known in the public health community for his work as head of the Clinical Directors Network, Inc (CDN). CDN is a “not-for-profit network that supports community-based health centers, including their patients, practitioners and organizations.” The CDN website is full of clinical resources relevant to the work of Community Health Centers in the US.
Dr. Tobin’s visit was an opportunity for us to learn something about Yeshiva’s Institute for Public Health Sciences. The Institute is currently awaiting certification from New York State to offer a Master’s level degree in Public Health as well as a Certification of Public Health training. At the present time they are sponsoring educational activities, which have included a public health grand rounds series and a 14-session course on public health approaches to obesity. In September of 2007, they hosted a two day conference on Diversity & Disparity in Health and they are interested in forming academic think-tanks to look at particular health problems in a multi-disciplinary way. These activities are all posted on their website.
3 Comments June 24th, 2008 by bronxdoc
We wanted to share an article we just published in Public Health Reports on using Google Earth for community mapping. We have found Google Earth a very useful tool that allows non-experts to make maps illustrating the community context for health problems. This post contains two of the maps created by our residents and medical students.
Using Google Earth as an Innovative Tool for Community Mapping
SYNOPSIS
Maps are used to track diseases and illustrate the social context of health problems. However, commercial mapping software requires special training. This article illustrates how nonspecialists used Google EarthTM, a free program, to create community maps. The Bronx, New York, is characterized by high levels of obesity and diabetes. Residents and medical students measured the variety and quality of food and exercise sources around a residency training clinic and a student-run free clinic, using Google Earth to create maps with minimal assistance. Locations were identified using street addresses or simply by pointing to them on a map. Maps can be shared via e-mail, viewed online with Google Earth or Google Maps, and the data can be incorporated into other mapping software.
Authors: Theodore B. Lefer, Matthew R. Anderson, Alice Fornari, Anastasia Lambert, Jason Fletcher and Maria Baquero
Source: Public Health Reports, July-August 2008, 123: 474-480, Available at www.publichealthreports.org
Sources of Food and Exercise around the Montefiore Comprehensive Health Care Center; Legend: Red cross = Comprehensive Health Care Center; Grocery cart = Grocery Store (n =10); Fork and Knife = Restaurants (n=16); Red dot = Fast Food outlet (n=32); Yellow dot = Bodegas (small variety stores, n=44); Green tree = Exercise site (n=11). Note the old Yankee stadium on the lower left of the map.
Food stores around ECHO Free Clinic, ranked by variety and quality of produce for sale; Legend: Red Cross = ECHO Free Clinic; Small red icon of shopping cart = “no variety” (n=33) ; Yellow cart = “Poor variety” (n=67); Blue cart = “Limited variety” (n=50); Darker green cart = “Better variety” (n=11); Larger, lighter green cart = “Good variety” (n=15) ; Blue -shaded area = Study area
If you are interested, you can also download the original KMZ file.
posted by: Matt Anderson
Add a comment May 10th, 2008 by bronxdoc
School of Social Medicine Genogram and Next Generation Medical Education
When Merle Cunningham MD came to visit the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (SOMA) the other day, the topic got around to the merger of two fine family lines. Merle has been active in Community Health Centers, NACHC, the National Health Service Corps, and health care access in NYC. He has been instrumental working through NACHC and Gary Cloud to help make SOMA a reality.
Forrest Lang MD was the second family line. He took his Social Medicine training to NHSC, Appalachia, East Tennesee State, and the Appalachian Preceptorship. I have the honor of being his adopted mentee. He brought me to TN and helped me to develop the ETSU Rural Fellowship, the Minifellowship, the Rural High School Career Fair, and the initial work toward the Mountain City rural site. One of the Rural Minifellows, faculty that were developing rural programs, was Tom McWilliams DO. His rural program for the Minifellowship was the revision of the Kirksville family practice preceptorship. Much “Social Medicine” type collaboration was involved in the Rural Minifellowship.
Tom McWilliams moved on to develop the first osteopathic school in Arizona at AZCOM and then the new ATSU SOMA, working back with the Kirksville folks. The preferential admissions process used was borrowed from my work which was borrowed from the various interactions with the Rural Minifellows. Tom hired me, Forrest Lang’s mentee, to come to Arizona to help develop this new school. Tom also shares NHSC background and helped recruit Barb Doty who helped found the Alaska FP training program that has top rates of underserved graduates in CHC And Native Consortia practice locations (about 43%). The Minifellowship, like the School of Social Medicine, helped keep ideals and ideas alive to translate them into action.
The School of Osteopathic Medicine of Arizona works with CHCs to funnel in applicants familiar with work with the underserved. SOMA admits medical students with a top priority on service orientation. The top priority is a match to the mission of returning them to CHC locations as long term primary care physicians. After one year at Mesa AZ, the medical students depart Mesa for sites from Hawaii to Brooklyn. The first class will begin in Brooklyn at Sunset Park in a few months. One of the faculty hired here at the same time was a lab tech at Sunset Park, Noel Carrasco, MD. who later did research, U Autonoma De Guadalajara, Neonatology, and Complementary and Alternative work with Andrew Weil.
Just wanted you to know that some epidemics are worth spreading and the School of Social Medicine is one of the best vectors.
When the new medical students arrive at Sunset Park, might just be worth “completing” their training where it began.
Robert C. Bowman, M.D.
rcbowman@atsu.edu
