Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
7-14-2023
Abstract
The Inter-Health Professional Outreach Program (IHOP) is a student-led organization that plays a vital role in motivating and inspiring underserved student populations in the New Mexican community to pursue careers in health and medicine. Our presentations are specifically designed to emphasize the importance of interprofessional teamwork, while providing students with valuable tools, future access to local resources, and mentorship opportunities. IHOP is proud to be part of the University of New Mexico's Office for Diversity Equity and Inclusion, which has a strong tradition of community outreach and interdisciplinary cooperation, values that IHOP fully embraces.
Our student IHOP members actively participate in biweekly meetings, where they contribute to the initial planning and coordination of interprofessional events. Moreover, they are directly involved in interacting with students during the events, which encompass classroom presentations, assemblies, career fairs, and interactive workshops like suturing, lip balm compounding, and blood pressure sessions, among others. The goal of these events is to engage students in a fun and interactive manner, ultimately introducing them to the wide array of health careers available. To achieve this, IHOP has developed a mainstay presentation for outreach events, which showcases the different health professions and their roles through a comprehensive PowerPoint. Each program collaborates in creating a slide that highlights their profession, patient interactions, and the educational path to becoming a healthcare professional. These mainstay presentations are usually delivered by two or more students from different programs, allowing them to share personal examples of their own career journeys. After each outreach event, students are encouraged to provide feedback through a Google survey. Additionally, they are provided with an electronic sign-up resource, enabling them to contact IHOP for more information, resources, and potential mentorship opportunities from any of the presented programs.
With over 50 members and representation in more than 8 health career programs, IHOP has made a significant impact in the community. We have reached over 1000 students across the state ranging from 4 years old to 18 years old, dedicating more than 20 hours to community involvement and facilitating over 15 mentorship opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds. The results of our end-of-activity survey are incredibly promising, with 98% of respondents finding the IHOP presentation/workshop useful and informative. Moreover, 37% of respondents expressed a distinct desire to pursue a career in health, while 48% remained open to considering it as a potential option.
Given the current shortage of healthcare providers, outreach efforts like IHOP are crucial in motivating and providing opportunities for students who may have limited exposure to the healthcare field. These results demonstrate the success of our statewide, student-led interprofessional initiative, which aims to inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals. By introducing school-age children to the various pathways into the health field through simple yet impactful presentations, IHOP is fulfilling its main objective of increasing awareness and encouraging students to plan for careers in health.
Recommended Citation
Trujillo, Samantha; Samantha DeWees; Emerald Goranson; Oluwaseun Oyeku; and Payton Sandoval-Belt. "Inter-Health Professional Outreach in New Mexico: A Student-Led Initiative." (2023). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hsc_ipe_day/1
Comments
Poster presented at Interprofessional Education Day 2023