UNMC School of Allied Health Professions Embraces
Americas Changing Face of Diversity
The numbers dont lie. Even the most conservative census estimates confirm
that people of color will become the majority population in the United
States within the next 25 years.
Thats why the University of Nebraska Medical Center is markedly expanding
its multicultural communications its all part of staying ahead
of the demographic curve, said Susan Langdon, an instructor in the UNMC
School of Allied Health Professions.
Last July, the School of Allied Health Professions received a three-year,
$300,000 grant titled “Health Care Education Partners (HCEP), to develop
increased opportunities for minorities in the allied health professions.
As part of this grant, the School of Allied Health Professions will air
a live satellite broadcast of a nationally televised panel discussion
titled Race, Class and Health, on Wednesday, Jan. 19. The free
event, which is open to the public, will be held from 12:15 to 2:30 p.m.
in the Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater.
The satellite conference is produced by the Public Broadcasting System
Adult Learning Service and features six of Americas leading experts on
health issues and minority communities. Panelists include:
Vanessa Northington Gamble, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for
the Study of Race and Ethnicity in Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Sandra Hernandez, M.D., former director of health for the city and county
of San Francisco and former director of the Office of AIDS in San Francisco.
Richard P. Keeling, M.D., professor of medicine and director of University
Health Services at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Toni Plummer, executive director of Cherish Our Indian Children Inc.,
and Native Families Empowerment in Whitefish, Mont.
Peggy Shepherd, executive director of West Harlem Environmental Action
in New York City.
David Williams, Ph.D., professor of sociology, and faculty associate
in the African-American Mental Health Research Center at the University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
The teleconference will be linked to almost 350 sites throughout the
United States, said Langdon, who is project manager of the HCEP grant.
Participants will be able to phone in or fax comments and questions from
every site.
This conference is historic in that Americas health report card, long
dominated by single disease-oriented support groups, is now focusing on
eliminating race and income disparities. There is now a call to find
the underlying causes of racial gaps in our nations health.”
In addition to supporting discussions dealing with health issues, the
HCEP grant allows for several local projects designed to improve multicultural
access to quality health care and to encourage more minorities to become
allied health professionals.
Last November, the School of Allied Health Professions used the grant
to sponsor a Career Expo for students in Lincoln. Langdon said the
School of Allied Health Professions is targeting minority students in the
ninth and tenth grades, in order to provide more time for students to develop
a pathway to success. Interested candidates are then matched with
mentors who are allied health professionals.
Additional career fairs are planned for HCEPs other partner schools
including Omaha Benson High School, Grand Island High School, and Macy
High School in Winnebago. Bensons computer science students also will
develop a website design for HCEP that features interviews with allied
health professionals and information on financial aid resources earmarked
for minority students pursuing health professional careers.
HCEPs goal is to spread cultural competence among UNMC professionals
who teach, recruit, and provide medical support services to a population
base that is changing as we speak, Langdon said.
The allied health professions are those which support physicians, nurses,
pharmacists and dentists. They include medical technology, physical
therapy, radiography, medical nutrition, medical sonography, physician
assistant, nuclear medicine, perfusion science, radiation therapy, and
cytotechnology.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education, outreach and patient care,
UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for
cancer research and treatment and solid organ transplantation. Nearly $32
million in research grants and contracts were awarded to UNMC scientists
during the past fiscal year. In addition, UNMCs educational programs are
responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska
than any other institution.