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W EDN E SDAY, M A RCH 30 to T H U R SDAY, M A RCH 31, 2011
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Volu me 105 Issue 85
UH students use education to help homeless JANE CALLAHAN Associate News Editor
Students from the John A. Burns School of Medicine, the Business, Humanities, and Social Sciences Department and the Ethnic Studies department teamed up to use what they’ve learned to aid Honolulu’s homeless. “This is a true win-win partnership,” Dr. Jill Omori, the director of Predoctoral Education at JABSOM, said of the coordinated efforts between UH and the shelter. “The students have gained invaluable experience in working with this underserved population… The shelter and homeless patients receive free access to medical care that they may not otherwise have.” The Next Step Shelter, located in Kaka‘ako, was originally created to serve the homeless residing in Ala Moana Park, and now houses up to 300 people. In 2005, UH’s fi rst volunteer team was comprised of eight students from the UH medical school. Today, there are over 40 student volunteers who conduct free check-ups, offer health education and social services to the shelter residents as part of the Homeless Outreach and Medical Education project. “This program has substantially grown through the years,” Omori said. Students have also included the Pai‘olu Kaiaulu shelter in Wai‘anae into their services once a week.
E D U C AT I O N AT WO R K Dr. Ulla Hasinger, the service-learning coordinator and a professor of anthropology in Ethnic Studies at UHM, said, “Coming from a medical perspective and a social science perspective is a great thing because we can do different things there.” Social science students dedicate 20 to 25 hours per semester playing with the children, serving food and helping coordinate events. Roughly a third of those at the Kaka‘ako shelter are children. Hasinger said that students also help children with their homework, adding that none of the children
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COURTESY OF JILL OMORI
UHM medical student volunteers provide basic care to O‘ahu’s homeless population at the Next Step Shelter in Kaka‘ako. In addition, social science volunteers coordinate shelter events. at the shelter have failed their classes. Next Step was established as a transitional place where people in need are given a chance to get back on their feet. In order to be admitted to the shelter, applicants must undergo an assessment at the Waikīkī Health Center. Anyone who has a record of a sex crime or tests positive for drugs is not admitted into the shelter, while those
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with severe mental problems are referred to other locations for care. “One of our criteria is to get our folks where they need to be, but they need to do the leg work,” said Kapua Tani, the on-site assistant coordinator and an Ethnic Studies major at UHM. Students in the pre-med program, medical school and residency help by treating
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simple wounds and injuries, diagnosing patients and providing disease management. The system is a streamlined hierarchy: First-year students are responsible for patient intake and taking vital signs, while third- and fourth-year students see the patients. They are supervised by volunteer See UH outreach, next page
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