Medical Schools Win Grants For Community Projects
The American Psychiatric Foundation (APF) has selected three universities to receive the first annual Helping Hands Grants. Each school will receive a $5,000 grant for a community mental health service project initiated and managed by medical students under the supervision of medical faculty. The awards are made possible through an unrestricted educational grant from Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc.
The foundation, which is dedicated to advancing public understanding that mental illnesses are real and can be effectively treated, approved the following grants:
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, is receiving a grant for Bustin' Loose About Sharing Thoughts: A Student Mental Health Education Initiative (BLAST!). The initiative will establish an innovative intervention for fifth graders in East Cleveland to improve their awareness and understanding of mental health issues and help them learn coping strategies. Medical students Beverly Jong, Christine Baran, Leonid Cherkassky, Julia Head, Carl Koch, and Sherwin Yen are participating in the initiative. | |||||
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey is receiving a grant to develop, design, and produce culturally competent informational materials for the community that focus on mental health literacy and education with the incorporation of routine screening for mental disorders at the New Jersey Medical School Family Health Care Center. The center is a free student-run community health center for uninsured and underinsured people of Newark. Medical student Christian Reusche is leading the initiative. | |||||
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine is receiving a grant for the Maternal Obstetric Outreach and Depression Screening program (MOODS), which will improve identification and treatment of women with postpartum mood disorders in underserved populations. Medical students Nicole James, Andree Leroy, and Jennifer Rhee are participating in the initiative. | |||||
“We are pleased to provide funding to these schools for the valuable community mental health activities being undertaken by students,” said APF President Altha Stewart, M.D. “These students are the future of our profession, and I am proud that they are taking the initiative to work with underserved populations.”
The Helping Hands Grant Program raises awareness of mental illness and the importance of early recognition and builds an interest among medical students in psychiatry and service in underserved communities.
More information is posted online at<www.psychfoundation.org>.▪
