The UW Health Sciences Center held its first Minority Health and Health Disparities Fair this past spring. The two-day event was sponsored in part by the School of Medicine’s BRIDGES4 initiative. Its purpose was to reach out to individuals and families from populations who are underserved in the health-care arena. The initiative was made possible by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

Teri L. Ward, project coordinator for the BRIDGES4 initiative, chaired the fair’s planning committee, which included representatives from each of the health science schools. Other units participating in the planning and sponsorship included the Office of Minority Affairs, the UW National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, the Graduate Opportunities and Minority Achievement Program, and the Health Sciences Minority Student Program.

The first day of the fair featured lectures by Dr. Benjamin Carson, a Johns Hopkins Medical School neurosurgeon who went from the slums of Detroit to a brilliant career as a surgeon and writer. In the morning, Carson spoke to an enthusiastic group of some 500 local high school students about his life and the importance of education to their lives. Karlotta J. Rosebaugh, director of the UW Health Sciences Minority Student Program, said that special efforts were made to invite students at risk for school failure, because Carson himself came from a similar background.

In the afternoon, Carson had a luncheon discussion with UW health science students, then lectured to a standing-room-only audience of members of the UW community, local health professionals and the general public.

The second day of the fair was designed to involve members of the minority community in issues of health care and in self-care. There were free screenings for children’s dental health, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, osteoporosis, body composition, and asthma. Students from all the UW health profession schools volunteered their time to staff booths and assist with screenings. The Husky Football Team attended and signed autographs.

More than 20 national and regional health-care organizations—such as the American Cancer Association, the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, and the National Dental Association—had informational booths. A number of community clinics participated, as did Harborview Medical Center, Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, andFred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.