First Person: B.R.I.D.G.E to Health: A student-organized refugee fair
First Person is an occasional series, providing firsthand accounts of outreach programs involving the McGovern Medical School community. This issue features Deepa Iyengar, MD, MPH, professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Stanley G. Schultz, MD, Endowed Professor in Global Health, who served as the faculty lead for the B.R.I.D.G.E to Health Refugee and Immigrant Health Fair.
The B.R.I.D.G.E (Building Resilience, Integration, Development, & Growth through Human Empowerment) to Health Refugee and Immigrant Health Fair was held during the summer of 2024 at the Southwest Multiservice Center in Houston.
The B.R.I.D.G.E to Health fair is a collaborative effort led by UTHealth Houston students, trainees, and faculty volunteers, alongside Interfaith Ministries, the Houston Health Department, and Sri Sathya Sai International.
The health fair successfully screened more than 180 adults and children from underserved and mostly refugee communities in Houston. The event provided essential health services to refugee families who might otherwise have limited access to health care.
This initiative helped identify health issues early, allowing for timely interventions and referrals. Additionally, it fostered a sense of community and support among refugees and immigrants, promoting their integration and well-being.
On the volunteer side, the fair enabled interprofessional collaboration between health professions students, faculty, and local non-profits to improve local aspects of global health. Volunteers came from various UTHealth Houston schools, including McGovern Medical School, the UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry, and the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. This extensive collaborationamong various organizations and volunteers highlighted the importance of community partnerships in addressing health disparities, empowering vulnerable populations, and developing well-rounded, culturally sensitive future health care providers.
This health fair gave one and all the invaluable opportunity to listen to patient stories, which deepened our understanding of how language barriers and social struggles can hinder access to care. This fair was very well accepted and countless UTHealth Houston faculty and students have approached our team expressing their shared passion for serving the community and their eagerness to help grow this initiative with us.
This initiative brings forth the need for us to pursue the establishment of our very own, student-run UTHealth Houston clinic for underserved populations to provide longitudinal care to the displaced and underserved populations groups serviced in and around the Houston metropolis.
The funding for this project was provided by donations, as well as each of the partners: the Global Health Scholarly Concentration at McGovern Medical School; Interfaith Ministries; the Houston Health Department, and Sri Sathya Sai International. Our team is very thankful for all the unconditional support that has been provided and we look forward to growing this project in the years to come.
Event coordinators from McGovern Medical School include Deepa Iyengar, MD, MPH, faculty lead; Rebecca Mathews, senior administrative coordinator; Zuha Khan, MS2; medical student project lead; Jordan Jafarnia, MS2, health equipment coordination; Ashna Karpe, MS2, donation coordination; Amber Maredia, MS2, educational sessions coordinator; Maisie Nievera, MS2 volunteer coordination; Olivia Tran, MS2, volunteer coordination; and Karen Zhang, MS2, volunteer coordination.
