Adding Community-Engagement to Medical Student Training

For the first time ever, CHeP offered a new type of research experience for medical students participating in this year’s Indiana Medical Student Program for Research and Scholarship (IMPRS). IMPRS is designed to provide a variety of research opportunities including laboratory science, clinical science, and international studies for Indiana University’s first and second year medical students, and this summer CHeP served as a host-site offering exposure to community-engaged research.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Mary Ott, IU School of Medicine, Dr. Heidi Beidinger, University of Notre Dame, Dr. Carrie Lawrence, IU Bloomington, and Dr. Tami Hannon, IU School of Medicine, four IMPRS students were immersed in a summer of community engagement. Projects covered pressing health issues including access to reproductive health services for at risk adolescents, lead poisoning in South Bend, the stigma around accessing treatment to care for injectable drug misuse, and evaluating a type-two diabetes program for youth and their families called PowerHouse. The student’s experiences not only helped move the community-engaged research projects forward, but also added an important dimension to their medical education program. CHeP is excited about this new area of growth and we are looking forward to next year.

If you are interested in mentoring a medical student next summer please contact CHeP at chep@indianapolis.iu.edu.