South Omaha Boys and Girls Club

Members of Creighton’s MHSSA have been visiting the South Omaha Boys and Girls Club to be BIG BROTHERS or BIG SISTERS to a large group of ethnically diverse children, ages 5-18.  We spent two hours or more talking to kids, getting to know them, tutoring them, or giving them advice when needed.  Some of us also played basketball, carpet ball, pool, or did artwork with the children.  These activities not only allowed us to be companions and role models to these children, but also provided us a much needed break from our demanding lives as Health Science students.

Health Sciences Students Educate OPS Students On Health Careers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Joy D. Voltz, OTD, OTR/L

Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions

Office of Interprofessional Scholarship, Service and Education (OISSE)

P: 402-280-5258

E: joyvoltz@creighton.edu  

Omaha, Nebraska (November 29, 2006)—Through a partnership between Health Sciences – Multicultural and Community Affairs (HS-MACA), the Office of Interprofessional Scholarship, Service and Education (OISSE) and the Minority Health Sciences Student Association (MHSSA), 7 medical students, 2 Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students, 1 Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) student, and 3 Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students shared about their health professions to a diverse group of students in the Omaha Public Schools (OPS). The OPS juniors and seniors are part of a health careers course offered through OPS in which the students are seeking to become Certified Nurses’ Assistants (CNA). The students spoke to 3 different class totaling approximately 45 students from high schools across OPS hoping to inspire them to go beyond CNA and attend college to become a health care professional.

The health sciences students talked about a variety of topics including the educational process, common practice settings, the daily life as a health care professional, and why each of them chose their profession. The students talked to the students and engaged them in a variety of interactive activities. The DPT participants included Michelle Hyde and Mandy Drey, the OTD participant was Cindi Kumpf, the PharmD participants were April Berry, Andy Raduechel, and Kate Gsell, and the medical students included Michael Yap, Mee Yang, Lyndsay Olson, Joel Barkley, Kim Truong, Jared Patton, and Jim Ramig. The students generously donated of their time to go educate the students about their professions hoping to empower them to become a health care professional.

This outreach is an annual service event provided to OPS by the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions and has expanded this year to include medicine through a partnership with MHSSA. For more information on OISSE visit http://oisse.creighton.edu. For more information on HS-MACA visit http://www.creighton.edu/hsmaca.