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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
NSU-COM Programs Work toward Better Care of Homeless
NSU College of Osteopathic Medicine recently received a $1.6 million federal grant to develop an academic program for medical students to provide better care for the homeless by understanding their needs. The five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will allow NSU-COM, to build a curriculum that helps improve students’ attitudes toward the homeless, ensure patient safety, and minimize patient errors in caring for the homeless. The grant will also enable the college to send fourth-year medical students to homeless centers throughout Florida, where they can treat and evaluate homeless men, women, and children.
As one of the most vulnerable segments of society, the homeless often do not have access to healthcare or they are overlooked by health care providers. NSU hopes to use this grant to train more physicians, who will then have the knowledge and sensitivities to reach out and treat this forgotten group. Once the curriculum is developed and implemented by NSU, it will be used by other medical schools throughout the country to plan, develop, implement and evaluate primary care health services for the homeless.
“The homeless deserve adequate medical care,” said Cecilia Rokusek, Ed.D., R.D., the medical school’s executive director of education, planning and research, who is the grant’s project advisor. “We want our students to be properly trained to deliver compassionate care to a medically underserved group both in the cities and rural areas. The homeless face enormous challenges every day. We want to make access to quality health care a little less challenging.”