Office of Community and Educational Outreach

The Office of the Vice President for Community and Educational Outreach was developed in 2001 to consolidate programs and activities (InterCon) previously funded through the former Office of Education Access and Equity, and projects from the former Office of Community Outreach & Education (Texas-Mexico Border Health Services). The office’s mission is to establish, promote and provide outreach, healthcare, educational, recruitment, and research programs benefiting the citizens of Texas, and facilitate diversity within the institution.

InterCon
(Inter-University and Public Schools Connections for the Advancement of Education and Research in the Health Professions, Health Sciences and Biotechnology) is a network of universities and K-16 schools established in 1995 by Dr. Gilbert A. Castro as part of UTHSC-H’s long-range goal to create and coordinate educational outreach programs as a means to diversify the institution’s student body. This multi-faceted program involves contributions from faculty, staff and students at our medical, dental, nursing, public health, health information sciences and graduate schools. InterCon outreach projects target both teachers and students, and are aimed at:

• Improving instruction and learning in science
• Providing opportunities for students to finish high school successfully
• Providing programs to increase the interest of high school and college students in health professions careers
• Increasing the number of college-bound high school graduates academically prepared to pursue health-related careers
• Preparing college students for professional or graduate school admission
• Developing distance learning programs for the dissemination of improved instructional material to and among public schools
• Meeting demands for health promotion materials and information for school-initiated health and other science programs

Successful partnerships have been established with Houston, Spring Branch, Fort Bend County, and Aldine Independent School Districts in the Houston metropolitan area, and Mission and Hidalgo ISD in South Texas. These school districts represent inner city, suburban and rural settings. A common characteristic of our school district partners is that a large proportion of their students are from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Collective activities are supported year-round and are located both in the public schools and on the UTHSC-H campus.

Major outreach activities that are being supported by InterCon include after school programs, mentoring programs for students at-risk, distance learning programs involving video/computer instruction, preceptorships for high school students in public health and biomedical research, seminars for students and teachers, and visits by our faculty, students and staff to the partner schools to participate as speakers for career days, or as science fairs judges.

For science instruction and teacher professional development, UTHSC-H contributions are guided by the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and by the National Science Standards developed by the National Research Council. Particular emphasis has been placed on the development of programs at minority institutions. These programs, collectively, involve hundreds of staff and teachers, and several hundred thousand students in the Houston area and across Texas. The ultimate goal is the long-term recruitment of students from disadvantaged backgrounds into health professions and careers in science and to retain a student body that reflects the population of Texas.

InterCon also involve partnerships with corporate, community, government organizations, and other universities such as The University of Houston, The University of Texas-Pan American, and Texas A&M University at Kingsville, thereby providing additional resources and links between the Texas education system to augment the participation of students in science educational programs. Many of the projects originally funded by InterCon have received state and national awards and are now integral parts of the Medical School and the School of Public Health activities.

Internal Programs
The office provides data and letters of support for faculty-initiated grant applications. Support and advice is provided for the community-related projects from the recipients of the Environmental Awareness Scholarships and student organizations involved in community service. To recognize and reward those students who exhibit an outstanding commitment to community service, the office developed the Annual Outstanding Community Service Awards.

Other Community Outreach Efforts
An annual campus-wide collection of hotel toiletries benefits Houston area man and women shelters. Additionally, office staff participate in numerous health fairs throughout the city of Houston.

UTHSC-H provides health care and health education services throughout Houston and across Texas.

Texas-Mexico Border Health Services
The Texas-Mexico Border Health Services projects were designed to assist with desperately needed medical and dental services, health professional education, health promotion and disease-prevention education. These health care projects are serving a major segment of the Texas population that would otherwise not have access to such services. The overall impact of this initiative is a health care delivery system that is exceeding the initial goals of serving the unserved and underserved population along the border. The Texas-Mexico Border Coordinator’s Office provides daily management of the projects and serves as a liaison among UTHSC-H, UT System Administration and other relevant persons and agencies located along the Texas-Mexico border who are affiliated with the project. The coordinator chaired the UT System Texas-Mexico Border Health Advisory Council for four years. Following are some of their achievements:

The Starr County Services Project has led to the identification of a major gene that predisposes Mexican-Americans to adult-onset diabetes. This discovery promises earlier and better treatment.

The project provides free intensive physical exams and follow ups involving glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and hypertension screening, specialized eye exams and ultrasound evaluations to Mexican-Americans along the border.

The Medical Mobile Clinic is nationally known for health care services and education provided along the border to residents in the colonias. The mobile clinic gives UTHSC-H and UTHSC-San Antonio medical students valuable clinical experience while providing much needed health care to this federally designated Medically Underserved Area and Health Professions Shortage Area. In FY 2003, the clinic provided primary health care and health education to 4,552 patients and gave 2,287 immunizations to children. Thirty-two UT-Pan American nursing students participate each year in clinical rotations on the van.

With a newly upgraded UTHSC-H network to Hidalgo County, telemedicine from UTHSC-H physicians is being provided to the medically unserved and underserved along the border. The telemedicine occurs from UTHSC-H Medical School to the patients on the Medical Mobile Clinic.

The Interactive Distance Learning Project for elementary students in border colonias was initiated in January 2002. Physicians who are academic fellows in the UTHSC-H Medical School’s department of family practice are presenting health education programs via videoconferencing to over 230 fifth-graders in two school districts on topics including hygiene and nutrition, birth and heredity, death and dying, skin care and drug and alcohol abuse. The students are located 385 miles away in Las Milpas and Alton colonias. Due to its success, the program has expanded to two school districts in the fall 2003.

A joint project between UTHSC-H and UT-Pan American led to the development of low-literacy, culturally sensitive health promotion brochures in Spanish and English on the topics of anemia and menopause. These brochures are being distributed to the clinics and hospitals throughout the border region to provide patient education in areas that had a serious lack in health promotional materials in Spanish.

Through the Dental Branch Public Health Program, Dental Branch residents provide dental care and education to the underserved in the colonias. The School of Nursing developed seven research-based diabetes patient education videotapes (English and Spanish) for Hispanic diabetic adults. The tapes are distributed free to border community/migrant health centers and hospitals. In addition, the videotapes have been digitized and placed on the UTHSC-H web site for broader dissemination to patients and health care providers. Since 1986, continuing education offerings have been presented by the School of Nursing through a coordinated effort with 15 Rio Grande Valley health care agencies. Nurses and other health care professionals residing along the Texas-Mexico border receive educational programs. Continuing nursing education contact hours are provided to participants at no cost.

The program is being expanded to additional nurses via distance learning from UTHSC-H. A border project initiated through the School of Nursing is assisting hospitalized Hispanic patients in pain management. Prior to this project, little research had examined pain experiences in Hispanic patients although reports indicated they are at higher risk for poor pain management and receive less medication for reported pain.

Activities of the School of Public Health include student internships on border issues to assist in coordinating efforts of UTHSC-H and community and political border organizations to define health problems, health service use and barriers to health service along the border.

Greater Houston AHEC
Through a partnership with the University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston’s East Texas Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program, and the Greater Houston AHEC, the office’s health services improve the supply and distribution of health care professionals with an emphasis on primary care, and increases access to quality health care through community/academic partnerships, especially for the medically underserved. AHEC has a great sensitivity to community needs with special attention given to improving the representation of minorities and the disadvantaged in the health professions and meeting the needs of populations with inadequate access or availability of primary care services. The Greater Houston AHEC includes Fort Bend, Harris, Montgomery and Waller counties, and provides services such as needs assessment, health careers promotion, continuing education, information dissemination services and community-based education for students in allied health sciences, dentistry, medicine, nursing, nurse practitioner and nurse midwife program, physician assistant studies and social work programs.

Health Education Training Centers Alliance of Texas
Health Education Training Centers Alliance of Texas (HETCAT) is the state-wide collaborative effort of all the medical schools in Texas, along with other educational institutions involved in health professions education. UTHSCH has been a member of HETCAT statewide Council since its inception in 1990. Membership also includes agencies that have a direct impact on health services in Texas. To date, there are 21 participating educational institutions and 15 state health agencies and organizations in the HETCAT Council. With a federal mandate to serve an area as far as 300 miles from the Texas-Mexico border, HETCAT is committed to the principles of community-determined needs and program priorities.

Acres Homes
To focus community services and educational efforts in the Houston area, UTHSC-H established a partnership with the community of Acres Homes. This partnership benefits Acres Homes residents, while providing invaluable learning experiences for UTHSC-H students and faculty. The interdisciplinary learning for dental, medical, nursing and public health students fosters sustainable health promotion and disease prevention projects resulting from residents’ input and community needs.

Kathleen Becan-McBride,
Liliana Rodriguez, and
Charles Simmons
Office of Community & Educational Outreach

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