Course Syllabus
GLBH 111: Clinic on the Border: Health Frontiers in Tijuana
HFIT Sharktank: Public Health Research in Action
Spring, 2021
Class Location and meeting time: Mondays 1-2:30 PM
Zoom link; https://uchealth.zoom.us/my/hfit2020?pwd=MFJUYytXUWEreCtYcXZ5dWswaXJXUT09
Scope & Objectives
Description
Tijuana, Mexico is a metropolis that experiences high volumes of migration flows from within Mexico, and from migrants who are in transit to the US or other destinations. This course aims to introduce students to the physical and mental health needs of vulnerable migrants as well as other socially marginalized communities, including substance users, LGBTQ, deportees, and the homeless and medically indigent. Additionally, students will become integrated into a free clinic in Tijuana where they will obtain community-based field experiences in interacting with these populations via virtual visits; students will learn about delivering evidence-based health care in under-served settings and become introduced to issues regarding cultural appropriateness, conducting community-based research and other topics.
Objectives
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To learn about the health needs among marginalized populations living in Tijuana’s Zona-Norte, adjacent to the Tijuana-San Diego border. We emphasize HIV, substance abuse, mental health, migration, and issues affecting the local LGBTQ community.
2) To participate in healthcare with underserved individuals in Tijuana’s Zona-Norte served by the HFiT Student Run Free Clinic in Tijuana. The HFiT Clinic employs cost-effective evidence-based practices.
3) To list barriers to access healthcare services by migrant populations living in Tijuana.
4) To identify binational social, healthcare and mental health care resources to address the needs of marginalized individuals in Tijuana’s Zona-Norte. Overall Objectives for the Clinical Virtual Sessions
5) To build cross-border community amongst students, faculty and community workers participating in the HFiT project.
6) To gain experience in analyzing and writing a brief research grant proposal about a public health topic as it pertains to vulnerable communities in Mexico and the border region.
Objectives for the Clinical Sessions
By the end of the course, students will be able:
1) To participate as a member of a binational healthcare team at the HFiT clinic
2) To learn about the HFiT’s electronic medical record system to capture relevant clinical information.
3) To shadow primary health services and thus demonstrate increased knowledge of physical and mental health issues, care, and services available in the San Diego-Tijuana border region
HFiT Background
In 2009 a student group from the UCSD School of Medicine formed their own official student organization called Health Frontiers in Tijuana (HFiT) committed for setting up a training course including visits to a free-clinic in Mexico to receive clinical training by UCSD and UABC faculty and Mexican licensed physicians. The HFiT Clinic seeks to provide high quality, free health care for marginalized persons while promoting the global health education and partnership among current and future healthcare professionals in the US and Mexico.
The HFiT Clinical Training course takes advantage of a novel model of primary health care which offers outpatient medical services at an accessible location in a culturally sensitive manner tailored to the health needs of marginalized individuals and their surrounding urban communities. The HFiT clinic is a bi-national program that capitalizes on the wealth of knowledge of medical and public health expertise through collaboration between both US and Mexican faculty and US and Mexican medical students.
Course Organization
Classes
Students are required to attend all UCSD classes (see schedule for times and locations) and to participate in virtual field clinics. The class is intended to provide information on the HFiT clinic, acquaint students with the Mexican health care systems, specific health and social needs HFiT patients, and train in the various supervised clinic activities. The structure of each session will vary according to the topic, ranging from seminars, case-studies to hands-on workshops.
Primary Care Clinic
During each quarter, each student will attend at the four required virtual clinic sessions via Zoom on a weekend. If COVID-19 in-persons visits restrictions are lifted by UCSD, students will be required to complete all travel requirements to Mexico before in-person visits to the clinic.
Dress (Per the UCSD School of Medicine Student Dress Code.)
Students represent not only themselves but also the medical profession to those with whom they have contact. Appropriate casual professional attire should be worn, especially when students are in the patient care settings or when contact with patients is anticipated via Zoom or in-person. Students should be aware that personal appearance may serve to inspire or hinder the establishment of the trust and confidence that are essential in the doctor-patient relationship. Students will be required to wear a badge identifying them as UCSD students and the HFIT Clinic Scrubs. Sandals, beach wear, and shorts are not considered appropriate dress.
Grading/Assessment & Evaluation of Student Performance
Canvas
This course uses Canvas. All course materials will be posted on this website and students will be expected to download materials for use throughout the quarter. Instructors will provide feedback to students via Canvas.
Attendance
Students are required to check-in during classes via Zoom Polling.
Email Communications with Instructors
Students are kindly requested to use Canvas’s email functions to communicate with the instructors.
Written Assignment #1: A Brief Research Proposal
Research is a key aspect of public and global health and medicine and is the basis for developing policies, programs and interventions that can optimize communities’ health and well-being. This course provides insights into some topics but many issues pertaining to the health and well-being of vulnerable populations remain unknown and understudied in the US-Mexico border region. In the Spring quarter, students are required to prepare a brief research proposal based on a case study that will be shown in class. The purpose of this project is to provide students with the opportunity to develop a skill associated with the generation of new information and knowledge as it applies to current public and global health issues. Students are not expected to implement the proposal.
Content and Formatting Instructions
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Students will work individually to prepare a brief (1500 words) research proposal on a topic of their choice from a list of topics provided on day 1
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Students should consult with the instructors if they cannot determine a topic
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A template of the proposal will be provided to students via Canvas and students will be required to use this template and to complete all sections.
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Students must submit the reviewer proposal checklist with the final assignment (to be distributed)
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The proposal should be written in Microsoft word, use Arial size 11 font and the document should be single spaced with 0.5 inch margins.
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(Google docs, PDF or other formats will not be permitted)
Saturday Oral Presentations
Students are invited to present work in progress on Saturday sessions at noon. They can share 3 slides the content of each slide is as follows:
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Slide 1: First and Last name, study title,
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Slide 2: Background and Research question
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Slide 3: Proposed Methods (i.e., study population, data type to be collected) and Expected contributions to science and public health
Course Summary:
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