5561 Results
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Laptops bring joy, spark learning for area schoolchildren

April 11, 2019

KeyReia George was all smiles when she opened the brand new laptop. The fourth-grader at Douglas Elementary School mused about using the laptop to improve her math skills and become a champion on the Nitro Type Worldwide real-time typing competition. KeyReia’s mentors, Erin Glanker and Sabrina Rabin, are both first-year University of Cincinnati (UC) medical students, who have provided mentorship since October. The youngster was one of about 20 area schoolchildren to receive laptops from UC Med Mentors during an April 2, ceremony in CARE/Crawley Atrium. Med Mentors, a volunteer mentorship effort in the College of Medicine, connects 200 medical students with more than 100 school-age mentees. The organization works closely with the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative (CYC) to train mentors and link them to Cincinnati Public School children for mentorship. The generous gift of laptops for these schoolchildren is the result of $10,000 in funding from the Clare Family Foundation and medical staff at Cincinnati Children’s, says Charles Cavallo, MD, president of the advisory board for UC Med Mentors and volunteer assistant professor in the UC Department of Pediatrics. “A lot of our medical students have an interest in family medicine and Med Mentors offers a really great opportunity to see firsthand some of the challenging realities families in some of our communities face,” says Keith Stringer, MD, faculty advisor for Med Mentors. “This volunteer program is made possible in large part by thoughtful, caring parents on the lookout for opportunities for their children. When medical students help by volunteering their time, it becomes a double win by aiding the kids and helping society by preparing and training future physicians for the communities they will serve,” says Stringer, an assistant professor in the UC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and a Cincinnati Children’s pathologist. In order to grasp the mechanisms of disease, physicians often have to first examine the social determinants of health, which can play a role in the diverse ailments seen in patients, explains Stringer. Med Mentors has focused on preparing students for academic success, but mentors also expose students to cultural and extracurricular activities through visits to the museum, the Cincinnati Zoo, arts functions, field trips and sports functions. Sofia Chinchilla and Robert Toy, both second-year medical students, are co-presidents of Med Mentors. UC Med Mentors was founded in 2001 by Wan Lim, PhD, associate professor emeritus of medical education. Mentees come from various schools including several near the College of Medicine, such as North Avondale Montessori School, Clifton Fairview German School, South Avondale School and Rockdale Academy. The mentoring effort at UC targets students in grades three through six, though some students stay with Med Mentors for longer periods. Lim was on hand at the laptop ceremony to congratulate the mentees.

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Laptops help schoolchildren learn and stay connected in midst of COVID-19

April 19, 2020

On Friday, April 17, UC Med Mentors will give away 20 laptops to a group of school children between noon and 2 p.m. Parents and youth will pick up their laptops in Kresge Circle adjacent to the UC College of Medicine. It replaces a special annual ceremony the college normally holds but has been canceled due to COVID-19. UC Med Mentors is a volunteer mentorship program in the College of Medicine that connects more than 200 medical students with more than 100 school-age children. Med student Nathan Lawera is co-president of the organization with fellow medical student Maura Kopchak.

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Third-year medical students return to clinical activities June 1

June 1, 2020

At the University of Cincinnati, third-year medical students returned to their clinical rotations June 1. All medical students were pulled from their clinical activities March 17 to ensure their safety and to save personal protective equipment (PPE) that was in short supply as the pandemic spread. While the fourth-year students graduated on May 23, third-year students have spent the last 11 weeks replacing their clinical time with other learning activities, such as small group discussions with clinicians, online cases and self-directed learning.

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UC medical students hone first response skills

August 24, 2020

As part of first-responder training, all first-year medical students at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine are required to master a set of skills they can use to assess and stabilize a person in distress until emergency medical services arrive. The medical students become CPR-certified but they also know how to stop life-threatening bleeding with a tourniquet or wound packing and how to stabilize a cervical spine or apply a cervical collar. They can assist with supplemental oxygen or positive pressure ventilation. The training program has been in place at the college for a decade.

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Mentor program to aid Black men in medical school

October 19, 2020

Alvin Crawford launched a program at the University of Cincinnati this year designed to mentor Black males in medical school. Black Men in Medicine Cincinnati (BMIMC), in its infancy, attempts to pair incoming medical students with older medical students and those who are closer to completing their medical degree with residents and attending physicians. The thinking is that camaraderie, networking and a defined support system might ease isolation and lead to a boost in numbers of Black male physicians.