ASU camp helps high schoolers get hip to health

July 9, 2015

Ben Ehmann had the option of enjoying his last high school summer preparing for the upcoming baseball season or getting a jump on his medical career.

He chose the latter. Gawon Shin Chan at the Summer Health Institute @ ASU. Gawon Shin Chan, 17, holds an ultrasound wand on Ben Ehmann's chest, as they look at his aorta on monitors around the room at the Summer Health Institute @ ASU, a camp for Arizona high schoolers interested in the medical field. Shin Chan would like to become a surgeon, while Ehmann, 17, would like to become a neurosurgeon. Photo by: Charlie Leight/ASU News Download Full Image

“My coaches said they understood and actually encouraged me,” said the 17-year-old, who will be a senior next month at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix. “Ultimately, it’s not about sports but my career after sports.”

The future neurosurgeon joined 23 other Arizona high schoolers headed into their senior year at the second annual Summer Health Institute @ ASU on the Downtown Phoenix campus, which is co-sponsored by Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions and CareCentrix, a leader in managing care transitions to the home.

“The Summer Health Institute is a unique opportunity to capture the imaginations of young people on the verge of making decisions about college, career paths and more. This hands-on experience opens participants’ eyes to the possibilities available at Arizona State University, particularly the College of Health Solutions, in the arena of health and health care,” said Keith Lindor, executive vice provost and dean of the college.

Throughout the past week, students have been immersed in hands-on experiences coupled with a project titled “Discovering Disease” where an emphasis is placed on critical thinking, communication and presentation skills, scholarly research, and teamwork. During the camp, high schoolers interacted with professional health-care providers including physicians, physical and occupational therapists, dental hygienists and nurses.

Summer Health Institute Program 2015 from Arizona State University on Vimeo.

“It doesn’t feel like work or that I’m passing the time because I’m experiencing what it’s like to be in the medical field and with other students who are interested in the same field as me,” said 17-year-old Gawon Shin Chan, who attends Basha High School in Chandler and hopes one day to work as an emergency-room surgeon.

“Every day is different, and you really don’t know what to expect.”

Chandler Hamilton High student Elliot Smith sort of knows what to expect. The 16-year-old works as a volunteer in the emergency room at Chandler Regional Medical Center and hopes to become a surgeon. She has seen people brought in on stretchers who have suffered heart attacks, broken bones and other trauma. She said she enjoys helping people and offering comfort to patients and their families.

“Often I bring back family members to show them that their relatives or loved ones are OK,” she said. “Being in the Summer Institute solidifies what I want to do, and that’s to be in the medical profession.”

Kim Day, a registered nurse at Banner Health who also teaches Complex Care and Adult Health at ASU, said she likes instructing high schoolers.

"They’re very much like our freshman students here at ASU in they’re excited to learn,” she said. “This experience gives them an opportunity to learn about several different health careers, how to suture a patient, how to enter an operating room and know their role there.”

Nate Wade, senior director for Academic Services in the College of Health Solutions, said the camp helps build the confidence of participants to not only enter the health care workforce but to also apply to college, scholarships, and honors programs.

"We hope that this camp helps participants find their true passion within the health care sector while realizing that ASU offers a multitude of health care experiences due to being in the biomedical corridor of Phoenix and the state of Arizona," Wade said.

The Summer Health Institute@ASU ends on July 11.

Marshall Terrill

Reporter , ASU News

480-727-5176 marshall.terrill@asu.edu

Anti-racist writer, educator Tim Wise to explore biases at ASU lecture

ASU's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy will host Tim Wise, a leading voice in national conversation on race, on July 23 at Phoenix College. His talk will focus on the need for everyone – especially future leaders – to recognize their biases.

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Anti-racist writer, educator Tim Wise to explore biases at ASU lecture

July 9, 2015

Tim Wise has a reputation for connecting with audiences, especially youth.

That was made evident when his upcoming lecture, “Race, Justice and the Future of Leadership,” was announced – within two hours, more than 200 people had signed up. Anti-racist activist Tim Wise Activist Tim Wise’s July 23 presentation in Phoenix will focus on the need for everyone – especially future leaders – to recognize and tackle their racial biases. Photo courtesy of Tim Wise Download Full Image

The lecture, to be held July 23 at the Phoenix College Bulpitt Auditorum, is part of the ASU Center for the Study of Democracy's New Generations Leadership Program.

“The anticipation and enthusiasm for his visit also reveals the hunger in our communities for open, civil discussions about how unresolved racism and deep-seated biases continue to get in the way of our American democracy,” said Matthew C. Whitaker, founding director of the center.

“Tim is a public intellectual in the most generous sense,” Whitaker continued. “He’s in high demand as a speaker. He’s written widely on racism and white privilege in his essays, books and blog. On social media he continuously engages community conversations about issues of race and equality, using facts and historical research to help people drop their biases and assumptions about ‘others’ and privilege.”

An example, Whitaker said, is Wise’s #WhiteLiesMatter campaign this spring, in which he countered pervasive myths about race and poverty with economic data.

Wise’s presentation will focus on the need for all of us – especially future leaders – to recognize and tackle their biases. He’ll also engage in a facilitated conversation with professor Whitaker and a question-and-answer session. A book signing will follow.

Tim Wise’s work for social justice began as a Tulane University student in the 1980s, fighting for U.S. divestment from apartheid South Africa. After graduation, he worked for the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, organizing to defeat political candidacies of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

From there, Wise became a community organizer in New Orleans’ public housing and a policy analyst for a children’s advocacy group focused on combating poverty and economic inequity. He has served as an adjunct professor at the Smith College School of Social Work and, from 1999-2003, as an adviser to the Fisk University Race Relations Institute in Nashville.

Wise appears regularly on CNN and MSNBC to discuss race issues and has been featured in several documentaries, including “White Like Me: Race, Racism and White Privilege in America” and “Vocabulary of Change,” in which he and scholar and activist Angela Davis discuss the connections between race, class, gender, sexuality and militarism, as well as intergenerational movement-building and the prospects for social change.

He is the author of six books, including the highly acclaimed memoir “White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son,” as well as “Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority,” and “Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity.”

His new book, “Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Jeopardizing the Future of America,” examines the nation’s shift over the past century from a culture of “demonizing robber barons” to demonizing the poor. It will be released in September.

The lecture is free, but tickets are required. Seating is general admission and, if Bulpitt Auditorum should reach capacity, overflow seating will be offered in Phoenix College’s theater, where the event will be live-streamed.

There are volunteer shifts available before, during and after the lecture, beginning the week before the event – at the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy offices on ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus and at the event venue, Phoenix College.