Congrats to our clinical trainees

AMPHS had a successful second training session for our Clinical Practice Training Program (CPTP) this summer. Ten students completed the intensive, six-week series, in which they learned important skills and obtained certifications in First Aid, EKG, Pharmacology, and CPR (some are holding their CPR manikins, below).

One student told us that the knowledge he gained from this program helped him understand what was going around him during a volunteer stint at a hospital, and his experience with AMPHS allowed him to understand things on a whole new level and take back even more from volunteering than ever before.

Two more CPTP sessions will be held in the fall, starting September 13th, and we are currently busy undergoing the selection process.

 

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AMPHS talks to seniors in Sunset Park

Brain health is important to all of us, and especially to our seniors. So AMPHS’s Hewett Chiu was glad to speak to around 60 people recently at the CAIPA Social Daycare center in Sunset Park.

The center ensures that Asian-American seniors in the community receive culturally sensitive care and services to increase their quality of life. And so on July 5th, the center held its Summer Festival, which also included dancing, karaoke, and a ping pong tournament.

AMPHS was glad to be in attendance, and it’s always good to see our local Assemblyman, Felix W. Ortiz, who also stopped by to visit.

Pre-health students get a headstart

The first session of AMPHS’ Clinical Practice Training Program (CPTP) is now underway! The 6-week course aims to provide participants with a strong overview of the material, concepts, principles, behaviors, and critical thinking needed to succeed in clinical practice.

Through lectures, class discussions, community-based fieldwork, and hands-on clinical practice sessions, students will be able to develop a deeper appreciation for the rigor and intensity of studying the medical sciences.

 

In addition to equipping students with skills to prepare for future clinical work, the coursework is developed to inherently integrate public health and clinical research principles into the clinical sciences for students to better understand both theory and practice in healthcare.

There is still space available for our fall session, and the deadline for applications is July 25th. For information on how to sign up, or to read more about the program, please visit our CPTP site.

 

AMPHS screens record number of people in May

Death and taxes, they say. But let’s also throw in “health concerns.” Everyone has taken medication or seen a doctor or nurse.

Now, imagine you don’t speak English. (How do you tell the nurse how it hurts?) You can’t afford Obamacare. (That pain in your side will get better on its own, right?) You’re afraid of being deported if you go to the emergency room. (But you can’t catch your breath.)

That’s what AMPHS is here for. We are a safe place for people who need help. We don’t charge for our services. We don’t ask for a social security number. And we speak Spanish and Chinese.

The monthly screenings in our Sunset Park offices are among our mostly heavily attended sessions, and the one on May 10 was, in fact, a record-breaker! We saw 22 people over four hours. Consider that a screening consists of time with a clinician as well as a health lifestyle counseling session (and possibly time with one of our social workers), averaging 45 minutes to 1 hour in total; now that’s a pretty impressive number! We were so excited to provide comfort and information to so many needy people.

In addition to our usual screenings, such as blood pressure checks, eye exams and HIV tests, we honored Women’s Health Day by partnering with Project Renewal to provide free mammograms.

“It is amazing how many people are in such dire need of services like this,” says Mon Yuck Yu, Executive VP and Chief of Staff. “It was one of our largest turnouts yet. People are beginning to realize the importance of prevention, but first, they must overcome the hurdles of accessibility.”

AMPHS CEO and clinician Hewett Chiu says, “There was one community member who was suffering from severe back pain and hypertension; after our evaluation of her, we realized that much of her problems stemmed from her weight. We created a plan for her to change her lifestyle behaviors, including her diet. We convinced her that it was important for her to make living healthy a family project; it was something that she needed to do for her children and family. She has been returning to our clinic for continuous follow-up and has seen significant improvements since she first visited our site.”

AMPHS offers free 45-minute in-house screenings the third Saturday of every month. We will also be offering mammograms once again at our site on June 15th between 2pm and 4:30pm in partnership with Project Renewal. If you are interested in scheduling an appointment for a future date (upcoming dates: June 21st and July 19th), please call (212) 256-9036. No insurance or documentation is required. All services are free and confidential.

Thanks to all of our volunteers for making this happen, and also to our partners Project Renewal and Latino Commission on AIDS.

Join us for our May events!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMPHS In-House Health Screening

When: Saturday, May 10th  |  11PM – 5PM

Where: 5306 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11220

Screening Services: Blood Pressure, Mammograms, Vision Testing, Dementia Screening, BMI Screening, Prescription Assistance, Health Insurance Assistance, Free/Low-cost Corrective Lenses, Health Education Material, Lifestyle Counseling, and More!

For appointments: call (212) 256-9036

 

Assemblyman Felix Ortiz Sunset Park Annual Health Fair

When: Saturday, 5/17/2014  |  12pm – 3pm

Where: Sunset Park Recreation Center, 43rd Street and 7th Avenue

Screening Services: Memory Screenings, CPR Demonstrations  

Walk-ins welcome; no appointment needed

 

Cholesterol Nutrition Workshop

When:Friday, 5/30/2014  |  10:30am – 11:30am

Where: United Sunset Senior Center, 475 53rd Street, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11220

Benefits of a healthy breakfast

Mornings are typically when we are most strapped for time. But research has shown that taking time to eat a nutritious breakfast that is high in protein and whole grains, and low in fat and calories may do wonders. A healthy breakfast can

– help improve concentration during the day

– lower cholesterol levels

– improve memory

– decrease risk of diabetes and heart failure.

To read more about the benefits, and options for a healthy breakfast, visit

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/07/23/204567839/SKIPPING-BREAKFAST-IS-RISKY

April Health Tip: Binge drinking

Photo Credit : CDC

The Centers for Disease Prevention wants to highlight the risks involved when women indulge in binge drinking. Binge drinking can be defined as consuming four or more drinks per occasion. (For men, it’s five or more drinks per occasion).

Binge drinking is dangerous for both men and women, but causes a disproportionate number of health and social problems for women. This pattern of drinking contributes to approximately 32 deaths per day in women! In a survey, women who binge drink reported that they indulge in risky behavior at least three times a month. This is not surprising, as excessive alcohol consumption leads to impaired judgment and decision making.

It is important to remember that no amount of alcohol is safe to drink while pregnant. There is no safe time to drink, and no safe kind of alcohol to drink. 

For more information, visit  http://www.cdc.gov/features/alcoholawareness/

AMPHS is 4 years old!

Four years ago, on March 25, a few volunteers started teaching emergency preparedness classes to students from Brooklyn – and so AMPHS was born. A year later, we started free, monthly health screenings for basic tests such as blood pressure and vision problems. And now AMPHS has 40 volunteers – from doctors and nurses to translators and data scientists – and offers not only comprehensive health screenings, counseling and social assistance, but also health coaching, education workshops, and public health research.

Through these efforts, AMPHS has improved the lives of almost 2,000 people from our local communities. We thank all of our generous donors and volunteers for helping us get to this point, and we promise – with your support – to continue leading the fight to provide health services to vulnerable communities in New York City.

Love to snack? Make it a healthy one.

Although you may feel bad about eating between meals, snacks are not necessarily bad. In fact, well-planned weight-loss programs allow for snacks to help manage hunger between meals and reduce binge eating. For instance, eating fruits, nuts or raw vegetables can curb your hunger without ruining your appetite for the next meal. The most important thing to keep in mind while choosing snack items is balance and moderation. 

Use this list of healthy snack items as a start:

1. Low-fat bran muffin with low-fat yogurt

2. Fresh berries with soy milk

3. Bananas and pistachios

4. Apple wedges and raw almonds

5. String cheese and seven-grain bread

For more healthy snacking options, visit:

http://www.cancercenter.com/community/nutritional-support/healthy-snacking/?source=OUTBRAIN

 

 

Going Pre-Health? Gear up on your clinical skills!

Throughout the years, AMPHS has worked closely with undergraduate and post-bacc students across the country to provide clinical setting exposure, training opportunities, volunteer and internship opportunities in clinical medicine, public health, health policy, and health law and ethics.

In support of our mission and by popular demand, we are bringing back our annual Spring Clinical Practice Introductory Experience, a weekend intensive program for prospective medical, nursing, public health, and allied-health school students designed to equip them with introductory clinical skills and offer experience of what the field of medicine and public health is all about. 

Clinical Practice Introductory Experience

Description 

Pursuing a career in medicine, allied health professions, and public health is highly rewarding and fulfilling; but involves much time, preparation, hard-work, and of course, money. Undergraduate pre-health school curricula generally do not give an accurate picture of the intensity and rigor of medical school education, and doesn’t provide practical, hands-on experience.

The Academy of Medical and Public Health Services (AMPHS) offers a popular annual weekend intensive program for prospective medical, nursing, public health, and allied-health school students designed to equip them with introductory clinical skills and offer experience of what the field of medicine and public health is all about.

The Clinical Practice Introductry Experience integrates actual health professions school coursework with American Heart Association (AHA) certification courses to simulate a well-rounded clinical experience, where medical professionals and certified instructors will take you on a journey across the clinical experience of what it is like becoming a medical professional.  You will attend classes in Cardiac Resuscitation, Medical & Trauma Emergencies, Electrophysiology, and even Public Health and Policy. In addition to being able to take these courses, you will receive 4 certifications, including national AHA certifications in HeartSaver First Aid, Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers, EKG, and an AMPHS Certificate of Completion.  These are the same certifications that states require for healthcare professionals to apply for their licensure.  The objectives of the experience is to:

• Provide a well-rounded experience for the student to see how basic science, clinical skills, public health, health policy, and research design works hand in hand in the current U.S. healthcare system.  Health professions schools often do not provide training in public health and health policy, and we aim to give students valuable insight into how public health frameworks affect clinical decision-making.
• Provide students with professional-level certifications that they can use to further their education and careers by boosting their credentials while partaking in a valuable educational experience over Spring Break.
• Provide students with the foundations for critical thinking and analyses in a clinical setting, and understand how various fields such as public health, policy, and research interact to deliver healthcare for patients.

In keeping with the unique small-group nature of the program, we only limit 4-6 students into each session.  In the past, students have told us that they have preferred smaller groups to allow one-on-one interaction with our faculty members where instructors really get to know them and understand their clinical interests, much unlike large lecture courses in the health professions schools.

Spring 2014 Session

Date: Friday, March 21, 2014 to Sunday, March 23, 2014

Location: Brooklyn Clinical Training Center (5306 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11220)

Tuition

$417.00 (includes course tuition for all class sessions, all applicable registration and academic support fees, course materials, certification examination fees for all exams, and all 4 certifications upon successful completion).

General Registration & Tuition Payment Deadlines

Open Enrollment Deadline: Monday, March 10, 2014 at 6:00pm EST

Waitlist Period: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 to Friday, March 15, 2014

Registration 

For more information and to register, please email faculty.resources@amphsonline.org indicating your interest for the Spring 2014 Clinical Practice Introductory Experience (Course Code DME14-001).

For more information, please visit us at: www.amphsonline.org.

 

Please note: We are not a degree-granting institution nor are we associated with any such institutions, including, but not limited to medical schools and graduate or undergraduate universities.  All of our instructors are volunteers with expertise in their fields, and all of our certification courses are taught by American Heart Association certified faculty members.  Since we at AMPHS are all volunteers giving our time and resources to ensure a safer community, all proceeds from this program will be donated to the AMPHS Community Health Project.  This is a collaborative effort in which we provide healthcare access and resources to underprivileged and uninsured families across New York City.