Task Force Unite!

Rush has a ton of different clubs and ways to get involved in the community.  One that really sparked my interest was the Health Disparities Task Force.  I decided to go to an informational meeting to hear a little more about what they do.  The guy who spearheads the group is a year 3 med student who is ready to pass the reigns due to all the boards he has to study for.  The group is small, but it seems to do big things and I like that it is both nursing and med students working together.  The goal is to close the gap in health disparities through education and community service.  As far as which route you want to take that is up to you.  The group is very lax, so much so felt like I had to pry some of their past projects out of them to see how I could be an asset.  It seems like the group coming in is much more eagar to reach out.  We have a lot of projects in mind, but we'll see how many get off the ground.  These are our ideas so far:

• create an AIDS education project for high schools (Today, youth are now the fasting growing AIDS population )
• Continue the former education workshop on the big health disparity topics:  Diabetes, Hypertension, Cancer and STDs
• Create a panal discussion for Rush students and faculty on current health issues affecting the community
• BP screenings for hypertension in a black community (African Americans are more prone to hypertension than any other race and is known as the silent killer so early detection is key)
• Assist in a sustainability project where we teach key people in a community how to screen for early detection of health concerns and they take it on independently (It follows the "teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime" principle)

We'll see how many of these actually pan out.  I somehow became the "president" of the task force.  I use the term loosely because all I really have to do is be the liaison between the Student Activities Coordinatior and the group and attend a few meetings.  However, I do like that it is minimal commitment and I get to put a leadership position on my resume.  I'll keep you posted on the Task Force's progress as we save the world one lunch break at a time :o)