CSL Mini Grants
Funding Available for Health Sciences Center Student Community Service-Learning Projects
In collaboration with the Center for Community Health & Service-Learning at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) in Atlanta, the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics is currently accepting proposals from faculty-mentored students at UTHSCSA to develop and implement community service-learning projects. Specifically, we are interested in community service-learning projects that document and address health disparities in the institution's surrounding community. This collaboration is in keeping with the new guidelines required for accreditation by the liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), which stipulate that medical schools should make available sufficient opportunities for medical students to participate in service-learning activities, and should encourage and support student participation.
Definition of Community Service learning: According to the LCME, "service-learning" is a structured learning experience that combines community service with preparation and reflection. Students engaged in service-learning provide community service in response to community-identified concerns and learn about the context in which service is provided, the connections between service and academic coursework, and their roles as citizens and professionals. Service learning also involves a strong component of evaluation: what was the impact of the project on the community served and on the participating students?
All UTHSCSA students are invited to compete for one year mini-grants ranging between $200 - $500 per year.
Eligible applicants include undergraduate and graduate students (e.g., nursing, allied health, public health, dental, family medicine, pediatrics, etc.). Projects that assist the Center of Medical Humanities and Ethics in meeting our goal to increase the number of higher education students engaged in service to communities will receive priority in the grant review process.
Successful projects will implement one of the following three components of the MSM Model of community service-learning or civic engagement described below:
Service-Learning
Faculty may develop a new course or redesign an existing course to include service-learning activities components to the academic course objectives. For example: as part of their 'Geriatric course,' nursing students assess the health concerns of low-income elderly people residing at a senior citizen home. Based on the assessments results, students conduct a series of nutrition and safety workshops to address the residents' concerns and actively reflect on course experiences.
Community Based Service-Learning
These projects offer an extended opportunity for students to engage in community-based service-learning activities, requiring students to plan, implement and evaluate their service project. These activities are not related to course objectives and can be completed by individual students or in groups. For example: students assess the concerns of youth participating at a local Boys & Girls Club. Based on the assessments results, students research promising practices in conflict resolution and implement a series of workshops targeted towards high-risk youth and actively reflect on their experiences.
Campus-Wide Day of Service Learning
In spring 2009, mini-grant recipients will submit poster presentations to a campus conference on community service learning. The venue will be at the Health Sciences Center Main campus, and will feature poster and oral presentations for the most exemplary projects, and a featured keynote speaker. All mini-grant recipients must submit posters; guidelines for the poster presentations will be made available through the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics.