The Health Careers Program is excited by
the start of a new and inventive initiative designed to increase the health
information literacy levels of high school students. In collaboration with the National
Library of Medicine, MUSC Library, Colleton County High, North Charleston High,
and Lowcountry Leadership schools, the South Carolina AHEC is facilitating a
dynamic and creative service learning opportunity for high school students. The
project provides the high school participants with an exposure to population
health issues while developing valuable personal skills. As an additional
outcome, the participants will create a series of enduring, educational comic
books that introduce younger students to health careers. Funding for the
project is provided through a grant from the National Library of Medicine
(NLM).
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention recognizes the value of classroom instruction of functional health
information and the development of skills necessary to adopt and maintain
health through health-promoting behaviors. Experiential education offers a process
long regarded as an effective method of instilling knowledge, skills, and
enthusiasm simultaneously. These types of
educational offerings also help to facilitate a manageable and
supervised progression from one level of an educational pipeline to the next.
Four student-led teams will use NLM
resources to research a public health topic and the health professions associated
with that topic. The teams will interview health professionals and complete an
investigative report on healthcare delivery settings. The teams will use the
reports will to create storyboards for the production of comic books. The comic
books will guide a young reader’s exploration of the public health topic and the
inter-professional involvement of healthcare workers.
School-based liaisons will work with AHEC
and MUSC Library staff to deliver training and support for the identification
and use of NLM and other resources to promote the improved health literacy of
the participants.
To find out more
about the project, contact Angelica Christie at christae@musc.edu.