Over the next month, PHR chapters in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions will be collaborating on a Regional Advocacy Institute that will take place on November 13 at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The Mid-Atlantic and Southern Institute promises to be an engaging, informative, and exciting event.
The Institute will address a number of topics that are relevant to students: the research and advocacy of PHR, how students can contribute, the resources available to Chapters (like the new Toolkits), and the new online community (everyone in your Chapter should register!). This weekend, the Midwestern Regional Advocacy Institute took place in Chicago, and they covered a lot of the same topics. Chapters from all over the Midwest connected and shared resources, ideas, and plans.
For me, the most prominent issue is Health and Human Rights Education (HHRE), which Jake already identified as our number one priority for the year. We need to identify ways to implement HHRE, provide support for our chapter leaders as they spearhead curricular initiatives, and ultimately come up with an evidence base for the importance of HHRE in medical education.
HHRE initiatives could range from health and human rights electives (something that we are currently implementing at my school, as part of the preclinical public health course) to colloquia on human rights and justice issues as they pertain to health. Health and human rights issues could also be incorporated into academic inquiry – as medical students, our research, whether basic sciences, translational, clinical, public health, or something else, would only be enriched by an awareness and understanding of human rights issues. I could go on ad infinitum about the benefits of HHRE, but I’ll end for now.
At the Institute, I look forward to collaborating with other Mid-Atlantic and Southern chapters, and working with fellow SABer Mona Singh at VCU College of Medicine, to bring the goals of National Student Program in alignment with those of our individual chapters.
Keep on fighting the good fight!
Posted in: health and human rights education, HHRE, mid-atlantic, mid-atlantic region, Official PHR Posts, RAI, regional advocacy institute, regional advocacy institutes, SAB, southern, student advisory board, Student Blog
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PHR sincerely congratulates the Dartmouth Chapter for their dedication to educating and mobilizing their campus around human rights issues. The Chapter was recently honored for their bold social justice and human rights work – which PHR learned about when we received a $500 donation associated with the prize!
From Dartmouth Medicine:
The Dartmouth Medical School chapter of Physicians for Human Rights received Dartmouth College’s Martin Luther King Social Justice Award for a student group. The award was accepted by the leaders of the chapter, Katherine Ratzan, a fourth-year M.D. student, and Alexandra Coria, a second-year M.D. student.
Katie Ratzan has a long history with PHR. She interned with Sarah Kalloch in 2004-2005, before entering medical school. She served on the Student Advisory Board (SAB) and has been a leader in helping other students introduce health and human rights education (HHRE) to their med school curriculum. Katie will soon begin a Pediatrics residency at the University of Michigan.
Alexandra Coria was recently chosen to join the SAB. Last year she served as a Regional Training Coordinator.
Through activities such as their recent panel on health, human rights, and the environment, Alexandra, Katie, and the other remarkable members of the Dartmouth Chapter have increased awareness and scrutiny of important human rights issues and broadened the audience for PHR’s investigations. PHR’s mission begins with the “mobilization” of health professionals, students and the community, and education like this precedes action. Student Chapters are a critical link between PHR’s work, the public’s demands for change, and policy responses that can put an end to human rights abuses.
Posted in: Alexandra Coria, chapter updates, chapters, Dartmouth, HHRE, Katie Ratzan, Martin Luther King Social Justice Award, Official PHR Posts, SAB, Student Blog, student chapters
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Even after months of preparation, I wasn’t ready for the incredible energy at Saturday’s 2010 PHR National Conference, Health & Human Rights Education in 2010!
Each of us, over 120 students and faculty from 43 US and International PHR Chapters, brought our own reasons for pursuing health and human rights education, and we all returned to different situations at our schools. We came together for one day to inspire others with our successes, share solutions to our challenges, and generate the energy that will sustain our work to advance Health and Human Rights Education (HHRE).
The day was designed to provide inspiration, resources, and skill-building. It began with PHR Board Chair Dr. Robert Lawrence’s compelling opening keynote, which offered participants an historical context, challenged them to approach obstacles from more than one angle, and inspired them with a sense of what might be possible. Panels and strategy sessions with HHRE pioneers and student-led workshops followed. Students inspired one another in the Education in Action Expo. The closing session, a Town Hall meeting with Rep. Jim McGovern, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, sustained the day’s momentum with his straightforward take on promoting and protecting human rights.
I hope that you all left the Conference with concrete plans for introducing or improving HHRE at your schools. I was so impressed by the plans you shared at the end of the day.
How can PHR support your plans? Take a look at the HHRE Toolkit – either online or in the CD in your Conference Packet. Your Chapter will be contacted twice in the next couple of months by the Student Advisory Board to help you can take advantage of PHR’s network of support as you advance HHRE at your school.
We’ll also work with you to create tools for your Chapter (like the Regional Hubs) to gather useful information and share it with other Chapters. And we will soon share resources for April’s Global Health Week of Action to help engage people in your Chapter’s vision of HHRE!
Posted in: 2010 national conference, health and human rights education, hhr ed, HHRE, human rights, Jim McGovern, national conference, Official PHR Posts, robert lawrence, Student Blog, toolkit
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Are Health and Human Rights linked at your school? Showcase your school’s education initiatives at the National Conference’s Education in Action Expo!
Initiatives could include:
- Offering a new elective
- Persuading professors to devote a class session to human rights
- Helping professors integrate human rights into discussions of other topics
- Dedicating a journal club meeting to human rights literature
- Inviting a human rights advocate to speak at your school
- Demonstrating a commitment to the right to health through direct service
Don’t be bashful – your idea could be an inspiration for other schools!
Presenters will display their projects on posters during breakfast and lunch on the day of the conference. To be considered for the Expo, please email 300 words (or less) about your school’s human rights education to expo[at]phrusa[dot]org.
Don’t forget to ask your school if support is available for students who present at conferences.
Questions? Just contact me.
Posted in: 2010 national conference, Education in Action, expo, health and human rights education, HHRE, national conference, Official PHR Posts, Student Blog, Student Program, Students
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Welcome back! We’re excited to confirm several world-renowned speakers who will be presenting at the National Conference on February 20, 2010.
- Helen Potts, PhD, Chief Program Officer of Health Programs, Physicians for Human Rights. Dr. Potts will speak about the Right to Health on a panel entitled “Human Rights and Health Education: Dueling Frameworks or Essential Integration?”
- Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH, Professor of Epidemiology, International Health and Health, Behavior and Society; Director of Johns Hopkins Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program. Dr. Beyrer will co-facilitate a Strategy Session entitled “Human Rights in Graduate Education.”
- Vincent Iacopino, MD, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School; Senior Medical Advisor to Physicians for Human Rights. Dr. Iacopino will co-lead the panel entitled “Human Rights and Health Education: Dueling Frameworks or Essential Integration?” and will speak about the urgency of incorporating a human rights approach in professional medical training.
The deadline to apply to the Conference is January 20, 2010, so start building a team from your chapter, and be sure to reach out to faculty members you would like to invite! Consult our Faculty Guide if you have any questions. We look forward to reading your application!
Posted in: 2010 national conference, Chris Beyrer, education, Health, health and human rights education, Helen Potts, hhr ed, HHRE, human rights, national conference, Official PHR Posts, presenters, right to health, Student Blog, vincent iacopino
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We encourage all students to invite faculty members from their schools to the Conference, as there will be time specifically allotted for students and faculty to meet and plan initiatives to bring back to campus.
We have put together a guide on the conference website with some tips for reaching out to faculty members to invite them to attend the conference and ask them to support students’ HHRE initiatives.
Check out the guide here!
Posted in: 2010 national conference, conference, faculty, HHRE, national conference, Official PHR Posts, Student Blog
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