Office of Community and Educational Outreach

The Office of the Vice President for Community and Educational Outreach was developed in 2001 to consolidate K-16 programs and other educational activities previously funded through the former Office of Education Access and Equity under the collective name InterCon, 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
InterCon or 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-12 schools established in 1995 as part of the institution’s long range goal to create and coordinate educational outreach programs as a means to diversify the institution’s student body. These multi-faceted programs involve contributions from faculty, staff and students at our six schools. InterCon outreach projects target both teachers and students, and are aimed at:

• Improving instruction and learning in science
• Providing programs to increase the interest of high school and college students to pursue careers in the health professions
• Increasing the number of college-bound high school graduates academically prepared to pursue health-related careers
• Developing distance learning programs for the dissemination of instructional material to public schools
• Meeting the 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 include after school programs, distance learning programs involving video/computer instruction, scientific seminars, preceptorships in public health and biomedical research for high school students, professional development workshops for K-12 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 attract and retain a student body that reflects the population of Texas.

Our partnerships also involve corporate, community, scientific organizations, 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 through this office 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 coordinates the Environmental Awareness Scholarships granted to economically-disadvantaged students at each of our six schools through funds garnered from the institution’s recycling efforts. Support and advice is provided for the community-related projects of the scholarships recipients, and any other student organization 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. Data and letters of support are provided for faculty-initiated grant applications, as well as support for a variety of professional development and other scholarly initiatives for faculty. The office also provides support and coordinates collective recruitment efforts, and conducts a bi-annual Community Service Survey to document the variety of projects conducted in the community by our faculty, staff and students.

Other Community Outreach Efforts
A bi-annual campus-wide collection of hotel toiletries benefits Houston area man and women shelters. Additionally, office staff participates in numerous health fairs and other community events throughout the city.

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 the health science center, 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 the health science center 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 over 3,000 patients and gave over 2,000 immunizations to children. Thirty-two UT-Pan American nursing students and 36 physician assistant students participate each year in clinical rotations on the van.
With a newly upgraded network to Hidalgo County, health science center physicians are providing telemedicine to the medically unserved and underserved along the border. The telemedicine occurs from the Medical School to patients on the Medical Mobile Clinic.

The Rio Grande Valley’s first school-based telemedicine clinic has just been established in an underserved community by the health science center through funding from the Cullen Foundation.

The Interactive Distance Learning Project for elementary students in border colonias was initiated in January 2002. Physicians who are academic fellows in the Medical School’s department of family medicine 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 initiated its third year of health education activities with parents also participating in these sessions.

A joint project between the health science center 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.

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 health science center’s 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 has being expanded by using distance learning so that additional continuing education sites along the border are available for the nurses to obtain their needed continuing education.
Activities of the School of Public Health include student internships on border issues to assist in coordinating efforts of the health science center 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. The health science center 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, the health science center established a partnership with the community of Acres Homes. This partnership benefits Acres Homes residents, while providing invaluable learning experiences for both 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.