Poverty, Health and Disease - MEDI 4151

This is a four week elective offered in March-April of the fourth year of medical school to students who wish to gain insight into the complex interplay between poverty and health, both in the United States, and in resource-limited settings around the world. The purpose of the course is to expose students to several thought leaders and appropriate published literature, including books, written to address these concepts.

After attending a lecture on AIDS which I delivered to the second year UTHSCSA medical students, a student came to me and said "With all this HIV all over the world; why don't they just use condoms?" Her question illustrates the need to teach health providers in training about the complex interplay between poverty and health, inequalities and infections, and the roles of economic and political, as well as public health interventions for improving the health status of a population.

This course will explore the problems of inequality of access to health care and its impact on health delivery systems with examples from Burma, Haiti, and New Orleans. Local and invited speakers will address health disparities, potential solutions, and model projects for impoverished populations.
 
Course Format and Content:
The first two weeks feature local and invited speakers who can address health disparities in New Orleans, Haiti, Zimbabwe and South Texas. We have, for example, invited Richard Sollom, MA, MPH, to speak about his work as a researcher with Physicians for Human Rights, where he serves as coordinator for human rights investigations.

During the first week of the course each student must select and begin reading a book (each group of students must pick a different book from the reading list). You will thus be engaged in about two to three hours of reading daily outside the 60-minute seminar. During the second week, you will complete the reading of the book and will each begin preparing a seminar for the group. In the third and fourth weeks, you will be presenting seminars based on the book you read and additional readings you found to amplify a particular theme of interest derived from the book. The student-led seminar will consist of a 30-40 minute shared oral presentation followed by group discussion and feedback.

Students will be evaluated on their attendance, participation in discussions, and a brief oral presentation. The elective will be graded on a Pass/Fail system. Students will evaluate the course using a survey on the last day of the course.

1. To learn about complex interrelationships between poverty and health, in Haiti and in the Southeastern United States, especially as they relate to HIV disease.

2. To learn about the impact of civil unrest and poverty on population health, especially through the examples of Haiti and Burma.

3. To read one scholarly, relevant book.

Course Itinerary and Requirements:

1. Students are expected to attend all scheduled seminars and lectures. Lecture/Conference time will average two hours per day, for a total of 8 -10 hours.
2. Oral presentation: each student will participate in a 30-40 minute oral presentation in which they will summarize main concepts from a course-approved book, linking themes to issues discussed by the lecturers in the beginning of the course. There will be a 10 minute class discussion period at the end of the book groups oral presentation.