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COM Outlook . Summer 2012
n 2010, NSU-COM was honored
to receive a five-year predoctoral
primary care training grant from the
Health Resources and Services Admin-
istration to fund Project HOPE (Home-
lessness in Osteopathic Predoctoral
Training), which addresses the deficit
in medical education training specific
to the health care and psychosocial
needs of individuals experiencing
homelessness. Since its inception, the
project has been adopted throughout
the medical school curriculum with
attention to those factors lending to,
being reinforced by, and perpetuat-
ing the homelessness experience.
As the only academic institution
that has established a formal agree-
ment with the National Healthcare
for the Homeless Council, NSU-
COM has begun to provide national
homeless-specific clerkship oppor-
tunities to our students. Beginning
in January 2012, placements were
facilitated for nine students at clini-
cal sites in Florida cities including
Miami and Orlando, and as far as
Los Angeles, California. As of this
summer, the curriculum is fully
integrated and expansion to student
clerkship opportunities will remain
ongoing. The feedback from this
initial cadre of students has been
remarkable and reinforces the vision
of this project that so closely aligns
with NSU-COM’s mission.
Project HOPE was well represented
at the National Health Care for the
Homeless Conference and Policy
Symposium held May 16-18 in Kansas
City, Missouri. During the conference,
recent M.P.H. graduate Karthik Sivara-
man presented his poster research en-
titled “Barriers and Potential Solutions
to Emergency Preparedness for Indi-
Project HOPE: Making a Difference
in the Lives of the Homeless
viduals Experiencing Homelessness.”
In addition, Project HOPE facilitated
a networking luncheon for Florida
clinicians and formerly homeless
consumer advisory board members.
Another oral presentation provided by
Elliot Sklar, Ph.D., and Kristi Messer,
M.S.W., M.P.H., entitled “Advancing
Primary Care Training in Health Care
for the Homeless” was well attended
by a diverse audience including
clinicians and medical students from
across the country. The project team
also participated in the annual rally for
human rights alongside both federal
employees and those experiencing
homelessness. It is an experience that
truly speaks to the importance, value,
and humanity of this work.
Earlier this year, 2012 NSU-COM
graduates Mark Alexander Gonzales,
D.O., and Emily Greer, D.O., each
spent one month at Miami’s Camillus
Health Concern, whose reputation in
the community is one of excellence
in providing comprehensive care to
those experiencing homelessness.
Their feedback well articulates the
clerkship’s impact.
“Personally, this was a pivotal
change in my experience for both
one-on-one patient encounters and my
own perspective on how homelessness
shapes health care needs,” Dr. Gonzales
explained. “The rotation became less
about plugging in the data and more
about an appreciation for the complexi-
ties that were attached to the patient
in the room—issues like safety, trav-
el, food, shelter, clothing, and adverse
life events. I knew these concerns
existed before rotating at Camillus,
but prior to this I had found it com-
monplace to dismiss a patient’s dif-
ficult social issues, abandoning these
needs to social workers as if they had
limited merit for physicians.”
Project HOPE’s goal is the adop-
tion of an innovative curriculum
that transcends beyond the medi-
cal school classroom to establish a
cohort of collaborative, culturally
empathic, and respectful health care
professionals. These testimonials
from our recent graduates reinforce
the value of their experiences in
these unique clerkship opportunities.
As the project ensues into the
next academic year, students who
are interested in completing rotations
at a homeless-specific site will have
the opportunity to receive assistance
from Project HOPE in finding place-
ments nationwide at sites serving in-
dividuals experiencing homelessness.
For more information about Project
HOPE, please contact Dr. Elliot Sklar at
(954) 262-1837 or
elliot.sklar@nova.edu.
I
Research
H i gh l i gh t s
By Elliot Sklar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Family
Medicine /Public Health and Project HOPE Director
MEET IN THE LOBBY AT 4:45PM&WALK TOGETHER
Make a placard or poster during lunch Wednesday & Thursday in the NCAB Hospitality Suite,
Fremont Room
.
Speakers will include Executive Director John Lozier of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, Joseph
Benson of the National Consumer Advisory Board, Vickie Riddle from Homeless Services of Greater Kansas City and
More! Open Mic from 5:40-6PM.
NAT’L HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS CONFERENCE & POLICY SYMPOSIUM
RALLY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
HOUSING IS HEALTHCARE!
WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK
5:00PM
¥
MAY 17, 2012