Link to schedule here.
Self-Study Modules
These self-study modules are designed to help guide you through some of the areas outlined in the curriculum and give a space for reflection which will you discuss with your faculty advisor and/or rotation chairs during scheduled meetings.
Suggested readings and activities will be included. Feel free to comment on any other thought-provoking experiences you may have had as well. It is expected that you complete at least 3 activities per week if you are here for 3 weeks or at least 2 per week if you are here for 4 weeks.
Activity 1: Border Health background
This activity is designed to give some background and history of the area and give some context to a complex situation.
- Suggestion section 2, 3,4.2, 5, 6 and 7. Please pick a disease process mentioned, what category did they assign this to. What strategies did they apply? How are they planning on measuring impact?
- Please write a paragraph on what you learned from this. Do you feel this affects provider/patient interactions? Obviously, this is an extensive topic. Do you feel that there are other important aspects that were not addressed that should be added?
Activity 2: Current asylum situation
- Please review the slide show “Border Immigration Discussion”
- We would like you to select a person you have met who is seeking asylum. Where did they come from?
- Please research and provide a brief overview of why people are leaving these areas and updates on current events.
- Please utilize appropriate websites and discuss any infectious disease risks or concerns you may have from this area.
Activity 3: Bias
- Please review the short videos on implicit bias here: https://equity.ucla.edu/know/implicit-bias/
- After reviewing these it is encouraged to consider taking a test through Project Implicit https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
- What did you discover from these videos and do you see any implications for working with asylum seekers? What are some ways to combat stereotypes, biases both implicit and explicit?
Activity 4: Ethical considerations
- Please read the article: “The Ethics of Medical Volunteerism”
Please read the article: The Reductive Seduction of Other People’s Problems - Please review the following slide show Global health Ethics .pptx
- Given that the current response to asylum influx is voluntary, are there any areas that you see as concerning needing to be monitored?
- Please present suggestions of procedures /conduct that you think could address some of the ethical concerns you may have noted.
Activity 5: Trauma-informed care
- Please review “SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach” and view https://youtu.be/fWken5DsJcw
- What are the reasons to screen/not screen for trauma in various settings patients may be seen in?
- Do you have any thoughts on how the process of applying for asylum may affect patient mental health?
- Self Care: Can you briefly describe the difference between burn- out and vicarious trauma? What do you do for self-care activities?
Activity 6: The future journey
Our care represents a small fraction of the process our patients go through. This activity is an opportunity not only to appreciate the complexity of the situation but to think about the various impacts this can make on their health and well being.
- Please identify a patient’s destination from your asylum visits or whom you’ve met in another context.
- How do you think the patient is going to get to this destination? Did you have an opportunity to learn from the shelters how travel is arranged?
- Can you discuss any potential obstacles the patient may have getting to their destination? What obstacles to care might present upon arrival?
- Do you see anything we can do to help them prepare for this?
Activity 7: Envisioning solutions for border communities
By now you should have had an opportunity to visit a Colonia or meet with Promotoras.
- Please review the following: National Rural Health Association Policy Brief: Addressing the Health Care Needs in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region
- Please pick a chronic disease seen in this area and discuss how the infrastructure/ community can affect this disease process.
- What strategies might you use to ameliorate the effect of this?
Final Activity: Moving Forward
- Please reflect on your time here.
- What have you learned about border communities that you want others to understand?
- What recommendations do you have for your home institution so that it can better address the health and social needs of asylum seekers at the border and in their home institution community?
SNMFMRP Curriculum 