UH Seidman Cancer Center Health Librarian Impacts Youth Scholars

The UH Center for Community Impact, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (CEDI), successfully completed their third year of an impactful summer program called Health Scholars.

The purpose of Health Scholars is to recruit minoritized students interested in studying medicine when they enter college. Health Scholars receive support in succeeding in middle and high school by participating in a 6-week summer program. This year thirteen 8th graders and thirty 11th graders met daily at the new Health Education Center on Chester and E. 99th. In addition to meeting physicians, learning leadership skills, taking workshops, and field trips to area universities, the students participated in a weekly book discussion group. They were given two novels to read and discuss with UH Seidman Cancer Center Health Librarian, Melissa O’Grady.

The 8th graders read “The Hate You Give” by Angie Thomas, which offered them the opportunity to talk about racial injustice, police brutality, friendships, and speaking up. The 11th graders also read and discussed “The Hate You Give” over a shorter period of time. They also read “Everything Everything” by Nicola Yoon, and the discussions centered around health issues, taking risks, and making choices in life. The students enjoyed the books and had the chance to compare them to the movie versions of both novels. One said that this year’s reading selection was so much better than last year’s choice. The students were thoughtful, engaged, and enthusiastic about the Health Scholars program.

UH Nursing Purpose Statement

Our own Regina Carlisle, MSN, BSN, RN, OCN and Jane O’Reilly, MHA, BSN, RN, OCN volunteered to simplify the draft purpose statement UH nurses helped formulate. The statement was developed from more than 1,100 responses to a survey distributed this past April to nearly 7,500 nurses across the system.   

Many had expressed concerns about the statement’s length and complexity. Regina and Jane did what they do best, simplify! Their experience with health literacy and patient and family education helped them pare down the proposed statement to the version the Nurse Executive Council adopted.

The statement was announced system-wide in June.