UA Trains Health Students on Border Research

The summer internship pairs nationally selected students with UA researchers to increase understanding of public health disparities along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Four graduate and professional-level health sciences students are learning firsthand to be public health researchers in the U.S.-Mexico border region, thanks to an innovative summer internship program at The University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. 

FRONTERA: Focusing Research on the Border Region is a 10-week paid internship program that provides participants with an increased understanding of public health disparities in the border region through practical hands-on research training, role-model mentoring and collaboration and network-building skills in a supportive environment.

The students were selected from a group of applicants from throughout the country and are paired with UA researchers who will mentor the students as they complete research projects along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Coordinated by the UA College of Medicine's Hispanic Center of Excellence and Office of Outreach and Multicultural Affairs, and funded by Hispanic-Serving Health Professions Schools and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the program first was offered in summer 2007. This summer's program is being held through Friday, Aug. 7.

"Through programs like FRONTERA, we are beginning to increase the pool of under-represented minority researchers interested in examining health disparities in the border region," says Ana Maria López, MD, MPH, FACP, principal investigator for the FRONTERA program and UA College of Medicine associate dean for outreach and multicultural affairs. "In addition, we are enhancing the University's ongoing commitment to partner with border communities to improve the health of residents."

Each FRONTERA participant is matched according to his or her areas of professional interest with a faculty mentor whose research has an impact on border health. Program participants include:

• Evelia Kory recently received her graduate degree from Emory Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, Ga. She is working with Howard Eng, Dr.PH, director of the Southwest Border Rural Health Research Center and assistant professor of public health in the Division of Community, Environment and Policy at The University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. Their project is a binational study examining the types of health research currently taking place in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region by U.S. and Mexican researchers. The project also includes interviews with clinicians on the U.S.-side of the border to assess access and utilization of evidence-based information in clinical practice. 

• Nancy Jimenez is working towards a doctorate degree of public health in epidemiology at the Ponce School of Medicine in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She is working with Marylyn Morris McEwen, PhD, RN, PHCNS-BC, associate professor, UA College of Nursing, on multiple projects, including the implementation of the summer VIHSTA interprofessional program in Nogales, writing diabetes education materials in Spanish, preparing a manuscript for publication and assisting with grant writing.

• Julia Tatum is working on a medical degree at Harvard Medical School, where she has studied Spanish-speaking women's understanding of clinical procedures in comparison to their English-speaking counterparts. She is working on two projects. The first is with Cecilia Rosales, MD, associate professor, UA Zuckerman College of Public Health, to complete a binational case study of Ambos Nogales (Nogales, Sonora, Mexico and Nogales, Ariz.) on access to care.  The study is being conducted in partnership with Arizona State University, Centro de Investigacion en Alimentacion y Desarrollo (CIAD), El Colegio de Sonora and Universidad de Sonora (UNISON). The other is with the non-governmental organization Gente de I'itoi, under the supervision of Blake Gentry, advisor to Gente de I'itoi, and Teresa Leal, member of the Gente de I'itoi board of directors, to formulate a curriculum about tuberculosis that combines traditional and Western healing practices for promotoras (lay health workers who volunteer as liaisons between their community and health and social service organizations) who are native to the state of Sonora and Arizona. 

• Lizett Wilkins y Martinez is working towards a master's degree in public health at the University of California in Los Angeles. She is working with Tracy Carroll, PT, MPH, a clinical faculty member in the UA College of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine. Their project consists of the health-intervention education of Spanish-speaking promotoras and working with members of a micro-credit community bank in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, to encourage health and economic security in the border region.

In addition to their research project commitments, FRONTERA participants attend activities to enhance their understanding of the problems affecting the border region and to become familiar with key agencies, programs and stakeholders working to improve the well-being of the diverse populations living in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

The students' activities include attending an Arizona-Mexico Commission Health Services Committee meeting, participating in the "Nuestros Niños" Health Care Census and Immunization Campaign in San Luis, Ariz., and touring the U.S. Border Patrol headquarters and Nogales Border Patrol Station in order to gain an understanding of the apprehension and deportation of undocumented immigrants in the Tucson sector.

A closing ceremony during which participants will discuss their work will be held Wed., Aug. 5 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Thomas W. Keating Bioresearch Building, Rm. 105, 1657 E Helen St., Tucson.

The event will include participants' mentors, program staff, Hispanic-Serving Health Professions Schools representatives and invited professionals.