FRONTERA: UA Med School Internship Works to Address Border Health Disparities

Wednesday, 09 September 2009 05:08

Growing up along the US-Mexico border in Nogales, Ariz., Evelia Kory never realized that she was about the same age as the wall that separates the two countries.

Her participation this summer in FRONTERA (Focusing Research on the Border), a 10-week paid internship with the University of Arizona School of Medicine, gave her a new awareness of the place she calls home.

“It was really powerful to learn that the border wall is so new,” she said. “I had had this impression that it had always been there, that it was this constant thing, because it was only made in the 90’s, and it has always been in my life."

The program began in the summer of 2007 and its organizers hope to create this kind of awareness among participants.

FRONTERA promises to create greater understanding of public health issues in the border region through “practical hands-on research training, role model mentoring and collaboration and network-building skills in a supportive environment," according to a July 30 press release. It is coordinated by the UA College of Medicine’s Hispanic Center of Excellence and the Office of Outreach and Multicultural Affairs, and is funded by the Hispanic-Serving Health Professions Schools and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Kory, a recent graduate of Emory Rollins school of Public Health in Atlanta, Ga. who now works at the Arizona Cancer Center, says the project she worked on during the internship, a needs assessment on what border health researchers need to facilitate and progress their research interests and projects, opened her eyes to new research questions.

“With the health disparities along the border, it made me realize more and more what a big issue health care is,” she said. “It made me want to be very proactive about it, and I’d never really focused on it before.”

But first there needs to be an easier way of interacting and recognizing where health issues along the border exist, said Kory.

With so many different ideas about what border health means, such as “migrant health, border health, geographical health”, she said its not surprising there is no working definition.

“I think that having a comprehensive list would be extremely helpful,” she said.

Back at the UA School of Medicine, she says she plans to contribute to existing efforts to promote border health in the region by establishing a database to identify all these organizations so that other people can search and get the same results. This could improve the quality of research being done through greater communication and knowledge.

Kory says she also found it interesting that so many of the researchers on the Mexican side of the border were from Mexico City, or elsewhere, and not actually from the town they researched in, unlike the researchers on the US side who knew the areas quite well, and reside there.

As someone who knows the border, Kory said it might be difficult for someone who isn't to have the same kind of experience in the FRONTERA internship.

She recommends more field trips, like the tour she took of the Nogales Border Patrol headquarters, and more hands-on experience and interaction with people who know the border.

She says the internship experience left her wondering what her role is not only as someone from the border, but also as a public health professional.

“I’m still trying to figure it out,” Kory says. “Although I’ve learned that even learning that there are barriers is helpful.” She wants to remind future FRONTERA participants to keep this in mind as they head to the border to do their own research.

Written by Samantha Luvisi You are reading FRONTERA: UA Med School Internship Works to Address Border Health Disparities articles