Muscular Dystrophy Association Summer Camp Volunteer Opportunities

The Muscular Dystrophy Association of Central and Southeastern Virginia is currently looking for volunteers for this year’s summer camp the week of June 7-13, 2014. MDA seeks to recruit volunteers studying Pre-Health at the University of Virginia with the thought that student volunteers at summer camp will have an opportunity to gain hands-on experience with children who have neuromuscular diseases and simultaneously deepen their understanding of coursework. Each camper is assigned to one volunteer camp counselor so that we have a 1-on-1 ratio, making the camp fun and accessible for all children!  Volunteer camp counselors help their campers with everything from camp activities (such as fishing, canoeing, and softball) to routine daily tasks (such as dressing, showering, and toileting) and will also receive training to assist with activities such as wheelchair transfers, physical therapy, and more. Also, volunteers will gain 144 hours of community service for their time at camp!

The volunteer will have a wonderful opportunity to learn from the campers, other counselors, medical staff, and more.  Volunteers will also be given a chance to create memories with campers while developing a special friendship that can last a life time.

2014 Camp Details:

Muscular Dystrophy Association 2014 Summer Camp

                         At the Airfield Conference & 4H Education Center, Wakefield, Virginia
                        June 7-13, 2014
As neuromuscular diseases affect more boys than girls, we have a disproportionate need for male volunteers

We hope that you are able to attend camp this year and help to make the campers’ experience exciting and memorable! If interested in volunteering please contact Michael Yeomans, MDA Camp Program Coordinator, at 804-285-2961 or by email at myeomans@mdausa.org. Camp will be June 7-13, 2014 but the deadline for applications is April 1, 2014. Here is a YouTube video for those interested in learning more about the camp.

Click here for the information sheet and here for the volunteer application.

Health and Social Entrepreneurship Conference in March

Innovators Forum
A Health and Social Entrepreneurship Conference
Friday, March 14, 2014
Shubert Theater, New Haven, Connecticut
http://www.uniteforsight.org/forum

• Keynote Addresses

• Ken Himmelman, Chief Program Officer, Partners In Health
• "Is the World Ready for Nonprofit or Pharmaceutical Companies?" Victoria Hale, Founder and CEO, Medicines360
• "QuestBridge: One Organization's Journey to Scale," Ana Rowena McCullough, Co-Founder and CEO, QuestBridge

• Perspectives on Innovating

• "Building a Health Delivery Model for 1 Billion Rural People, Starting with One Remote Village in Liberia," Jason Bae, Director, Last Mile Health
• "A New Face of American Diplomacy: Global Health Service Abroad," Vanessa Kerry, Chief Executive Officer, Seed Global Health
• "The Developing World's Healthcare Problems are Complicated.  The Solutions Don't Need to Be," David Barash, Executive Director, Global Health Portfolio and Chief Medical Officer, GE Foundation

• Key Lessons From Building Innovative, Successful Programs

• "Social and Mobile Innovations for Global Health Programs," Bobby Jefferson, Director, Center for Development Informatics, Futures Group
• "Contagious Health & Happiness," Leila Makarechi, COO, Microclinic International
• "Social Change is a Process, Not a Formula: Practical Lessons from Twenty Years of Success and Failure," Dean Cycon, Founder and CEO, Dean's Beans Organic Coffee Co.

• Conversations with Early-Stage Innovators, Global Health Technology Organizations, and Established Organizations

• Six Innovators Forum audience members will each present a 5-minute presentation to the Innovators Forum audience about their organization, current and expected impact, current challenges, and questions for the expert speakers. The presenters will then engage in a conversation with the keynote speakers and with Charlie MacCormack, President Emeritus at Save The Children, on the Shubert Theater stage and in front of the conference audience. The expert speakers will answer questions and offer guidance and advice. The entire audience will then have an opportunity to ask questions of the presenters and the expert speakers. In addition to offering a unique opportunity for the six selected presenters, the Innovators Forum audience will gain extensive insight from the expert speakers about navigating the challenges and complexities of real issues being experienced by the innovators in the audience.

Complete details and the Innovators Forum schedule can be seen at http://www.uniteforsight.org/forum

FREE FILM SCREENING: Thurs 27 Feb, 7:00 pm, "Lives Worth Living"

This Thursday evening there will be a free screening/discussion of "LIVES WORTH LIVING: THE GREAT FIGHT FOR DISABILITY RIGHTS" (directed by Eric Neudel). Post-film discussion will be led by Professor Lois Shepherd from our Center for Biomedical Ethics and Humanities.

Thursday, 27 February, 7:00 (food), 7:30 (film), 101 Nau Hall (South Lawn). Free parking in K-2 lot on Brandon Avenue.

This film event is a prologue to the day-long, university-wide DISABLING NORMALCY symposium on disability studies that takes place—and is open to everyone, for free—on Friday, 28 February, in the Harrison-Small Auditorium in the Special Collections building next to Alderman Library. View the flyer for more information about the symposium.

CAVlink postings

Remember that these are just a sampling of the CAVlink postings that may be of interest to pre-health students!  Log on to CAVlink to view more!

 Special Needs Camp Counselor

Description

Camp Holiday Trails, Charlottesville, VA is looking for committed and enthusiastic individuals for paid counselor positions for our summer residential camp sessions that run from mid-June through late July or early August (end of Summer dates flexible). The experience of working at CHT provides counselors with a challenging, enlightening, and, most of all, FUN introduction to working with children with special medical needs in a supportive and caring work environment. There is no more unique and memorable summer experience than what you'll find at camp, and for students interested in the health professions, there is no greater learning opportunity than what one can gain from caring for our amazing Campers. Join them if you're ready to make a difference in the lives of some incredible kids!

https://virginia-csm.symplicity.com/students/index.php?mode=form&id=b78c2be44fb7fb3d9cf397090d826c80&s=jobs&ss=jobs

Health and Wellness/Public Health Intern 

Description

The Health and Wellness/Public Health Intern will assist the Health and Wellness Director with planning community outreach events (such as various Health Expos and Patient Education Programs) and with the maintenance of existing public health and exercise programs. Specific tasks are given below.
 Communicating with program volunteers
 Planning support programs for children with arthritis and their families
 Writing and editing newsletter pieces
 Gathering information and resources for grant writing efforts
 Participating in developing partnerships with community based organizations
 Assisting with all aspects of health and wellness activities and programs 

https://virginia-csm.symplicity.com/students/index.php?mode=form&id=e2f189b775af0fc866614c8c35329bfe&s=jobs&ss=jobs

Alternatives to Pre-Med

Are you questioning if you want to become a physician? Interested in a different lifestyle or career path? If so, please join University Career Services in March for group exploration of alternatives in (and out of) the healthcare professions. Contact Elizabeth Williams, Career Counselor at emd5w@virginia.edu to be added to the list and doodle poll.

Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP)

The Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP) application deadline is this Saturday, March 1, 2014.  We strongly encourage students to get their applications in on time. 

SMDEP is a FREE six week academic enrichment program for freshman and sophomore college students who want to become physicians or dentists. 

Students who meet the following eligibility requirements may be accepted at one of our 12 program sites:

·         Be currently enrolled as a freshman or sophomore in college;

·         Have a minimum overall GPA of 2.5;

·         Be a U.S. citizen or hold a permanent resident visa; and

·         Not have previously participated in SMDEP.

Please visit our website for the application at www.smdep.org or contact the National Program Office at 1-866-587-6337 or smdep@aamc.org. 

Medical Center Hour- February 26, 2014

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

12:30-1:30 pm

Jordan Conference Center Auditorium

University of Virginia School of Medicine

______________

History of the Health Sciences Lecture

THE POLITICAL SCIENCE OF PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSIS

A MORAL DEFENSE OF THE DSM

Warren Kinghorn MD ThD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pastoral and Moral Theology, Duke University Medical Center and Duke Divinity School, Durham NC

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is perhaps the most contested document in American medicine, vital for the organization and funding of psychiatric research and mental health care yet perennially criticized both from within and beyond the mental health community. Heated debate accompanied the 2013 publication of the manual’s fifth edition, DSM-5. Critics charged that the new edition masks political interests—e.g., interests of psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies—under the guise of science, at patients’ expense, while DSM-5 defenders championed the inclusiveness and transparency of the review process and evidence-base behind the manual’s diagnostic decisions. In this Medical Center Hour, psychiatrist and theologian Warren Kinghorn argues for a mediating alternative: that the DSM may be best understood as neither an apolitical “encyclopedia” of psychopathology nor a political cloak for psychiatric power but rather as a working document of a living moral tradition—in this case, the tradition of American psychiatry. Understanding psychiatry as a moral tradition, and psychiatric diagnosis as tradition-constituted discourse, allows for appreciation of the DSM as a useful scientific document that reflects the moral assumptions and convictions of the communities that created and continue to sustain it.

Co-presented with the History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series

http://www.medicine.virginia.edu/community-service/centers/biomedical-ethics-and-humanities/medical-center-hour

Peer Health Education Recruitment

Apply to be a Peer Health Educator! The Peer Health Educators (PHEs) are a diverse group of 45 U.Va. students trained to educate their classmates about college health and wellness issues in a positive, interactive, fun, and nonjudgmental manner.

Comprehensive training prepares the PHEs to provide confidential patient education sessions; facilitate dynamic outreach programs; encourage physical, mental, and spiritual health; create informative awareness events; and promote community support to create a healthy campus culture.

Applications are due March 7th via atUVA by 5pm. Visit our website to apply. See flyer for more information.

NAMME Student Development Workshop & Recruitment Fair

The Southern Region National Association of Medical Minority Educators, Inc. (NAMME) is committed to increasing the diversity in the health professions.  This year, NAMME will be hosting a Student Development Workshop & Recruitment Fair on Saturday, March 1st, on the campus of the University of Virginia from 10:45am to 4:00pm.   

Come to meet with school representatives from health professions schools including:

 ·        Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine,

·         Emory University’s MD/Ph.D Program,

·         Shenandoah University’s Physician Assistant Program,

·         University of Virginia’s School of Medicine

·         Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine

View this flyer for more details.

Health and Social Entrepreneurship Conference

Innovators Forum
A Health and Social Entrepreneurship Conference
Friday, March 14, 2014
Shubert Theater, New Haven, Connecticut

The upcoming Innovators Forum: Conference on Health and Social Entrepreneurship is on Friday, March 14, 2014, at the Shubert Theater in New Haven, Connecticut. Presented by Unite For Sight, the Innovators Forum will draw health, education, development, and social entrepreneurship professionals and students for a focused, highly interactive, and collaborative conference on best and emerging practices for effective programs. 

Complete details and the Innovators Forum schedule can be seen at http://www.uniteforsight.org/forum