Community impact: Youth outreach
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  2012-12-21


Yoga at UCLA Family CommonsFrom babies to high school students, University of California Health has outreach programs for all types of youths.

A block from the Santa Monica Promenade, the UCLA Family Commons offers family-centric programming such as family coaching, parent seminars, martial arts and baby-and-me music and yoga. The wellness center, welcoming clients with its bright colors and convenient location, was developed by researchers from UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. It has expanded to include a satellite site at Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools in Koreatown. "Everything we do is for parents and children," Director Kelle Taylor said.

At UC Davis, outreach efforts for high schoolers include a medical student anatomy lab, mini medical school and summer scrubs academic preparation program. UC Davis' Veterinary Student Outreach Club hosts a yearly Future Day for high school students to encourage interest in veterinary medicine through hands-on labs and engaging talks. The next one is scheduled for April 28.

UC Irvine has an outreach program that invites 20 students from each of Orange County's high schools to participate in hands-on instruction using the latest in minimally invasive surgical equipment. A two-week summer premed program is for high school students interested in a career in medicine. Meanwhile, the ultrasound in medical education program offers middle school, high school and undergraduate students the opportunity to see how ultrasound technology is used in medicine and learn more about health care careers.

Through a grant from the Desert Healthcare District, the UC Riverside School of Medicine will partner with existing Coachella Valley initiatives to support students aspiring to careers in health care. This will include student outreach and enrichment programs that inspire students to pursue health care careers and enhance their competitiveness for professional health training programs such as medical school.

At UC San Diego, the HERE Initiative is a far-reaching outreach program designed to engage with historically underserved communities in the southern and southeastern regions of San Diego County. The initiative includes the Medical Pathway Program, which involves UC-approved science courses at various high schools.

In San Francisco, public school students are getting a double dose of service from UC campuses. At John O'Connell High, Emily Ozer encourages students to teach their teachers to be more effective, one of five such youth-led participatory programs in San Francisco high schools. Ozer, a UC Berkeley School of Public Health associate professor, said the programs show promise in improving the mental health and well-being of teens.

UCSF SEP program At Mission High, when UCSF graduate student Charlie Morgan first visited the campus dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, students told him he didn't look like a scientist. That's the point. UCSF is helping change the face of science through its award-winning Science and Health Education Partnership, which works with San Francisco public schools to support quality science education for K-12 students. At Mission, Morgan and UCSF postdoctoral fellow Norma Velazquez Ulloa teamed with teacher Becky Fulop's biology class to engage in hands-on experiments with real-world relevance.

"I really appreciate the students having access to scientists who don't look like what they may think the typical scientist looks like -- young people, people of different ethnicities, people who look more like them," Fulop said. "I want them to see the way science is really performed."

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