CHAP involves health sciences students in community service

Medical student Bita Arabshahi was one of a group providing pre-sports physical exams at Renton High School last spring. She is a student coordinator for CHAP. Photo by Doug Plummer.

For nearly 20 years, UW health sciences students have become involved in a multitude of public service projects through the Community Health Advancement Program (CHAP). Founded in 1977 by the late Dr. Gabriel Smilkstein, then an associate professor of family medicine, CHAP has attracted successive generations of students interested in voluntary service. Today more than half the UW's medical students participate.

CHAP's student leaders create service projects in conjunction with local agencies, such as public schools, neighborhood clinics or emergency shelters. The agencies inform the students about some unmet concerns of the populations they serve. The student s figure out ways, within their resources and abilities, to assist.

"Students usually start out with a general goal such as, 'We want to deliver health care to the homeless,'" said Dr. Sharon Dobie, assistant professor of family medicine and faculty advisor to CHAP. "In this case, staff at a local emergency shelter su ggested a specific action: coming into the downtown center regularly to check and treat people for common skin disorders."

According to Dobie, CHAP teaches students to translate good intentions into workable solutions. The projects are all student-run. Students structure the effort, recruit volunteers, evaluate their project's effectiveness, solicit funding and supplies, a nd plan ahead to turn over leadership and staffing to incoming students. Many projects continue long after the founders finish school. A vital presence in CHAP has been the program coordinator, Connie Huffine. She not only provides staff support, but ofte n donates her time afterhours to join the service activities.

In addition to an evening dermatology clinic held at an urban shelter, other CHAP projects include: autumn flu shots for people at high risk of complications from influenza, diabetic foot care at the Rainier Park Clinic, and spring sports physicals for Foster High School athletes. Some students tutor at Orion, a teen drop-in center, or lead weekly discussions of health topics among sixth-graders in a science class at Hamilton Middle School.

When a project requires hands-on patient care, CHAP students depend on licensed medical professionals at the UW and in the city to volunteer to supervise their work.

One of the long-time community volunteers for CHAP is Dr. Stanley Kantor, a family physician who practices in northeast Seattle. Since 1991, he has helped out about once a month. Following a busy day at his own clinic, he contributes his medical expert ise to CHAP clinics.

Kantor is fueled by the belief that he should give back to his community some of the blessings he has received in his own life. His mother set an example for him by always being happy to share whatever she had with others.

"I get joy in helping young people acquire the medical skills I learned years ago," Kantor said. "I want to encourage these future health professionals not to use their skills only to earn a living, but to set aside time to provide medical care freely to people who are unable to pay."

Medical student Rick Rutherford sees CHAP as a chance put down his books and lab tools for a while to offer meaningful service to others: "Most of us decided to go to medical school because we want to do something direct and useful for people. To have the knowledge to do so, we must spend many hours in lectures or studying. We don't see much of the human side of medicine during the first few years. "

Rutherford taught eighth grade in Chicago's inner city before moving to Seattle. He soon missed the candor of his young pupils. He, along with a group of fellow students in the other UW health profession schools, piloted a weekly health education and d iscussion session at Seattle's Hamilton Middle School.

Rutherford said, "It's a chance for the kids to sit down with trusted adults and talk about what's on their minds: pressures on young people, illness in their family, smoking. It's important for kids this age to have guidance from adults who listen and understand, in order for them to grow emotionally and socially."

Pamela Hillard, who manages health education for the Seattle Public Schools, said these sessions make middle school students feel more comfortable interacting with medical professionals, and allay their reluctance to seek medical care. The CHAP student s, she said, also encourage the teenagers to make wise decisions about health matters. She noticed that the younger students look up to the health sciences students as role models who like learning and helping others. CHAP also inspires youngsters engaged in middle school-sponsored community service activities.

Like Hillard, CHAP faculty advisor Dobie believes it's a good idea to give students from middle school and beyond the opportunity to try community service first-hand.

"Perhaps if more students learned at an early age about the needs of our communities, and the individual's responsibilities to others," Dobie said, "community service might become an integral part of their lives. If we could tap into the fresh ideas of youth and channel them in this direction, we might have more creative solutions to societal problems."

While influences are difficult to measure, it's likely the emphasis the UW's health sciences schools place on working for the common good has a lasting effect on some students. The public service record for UW health sciences alumni is impressive. Thei r commitments range from helping nearby agencies that undergird small-town life in the places where they practice, to leadership of international and national charitable foundations. ¶

Leila Gray