Ethnic Health Institute and Center for Community Engagement: Impactful Events in May

May has been an incredible month for our Ethnic Health Institute and Center for Community Engagement! On May 2nd, they held their last Oakland field trip of the semester, with Soledad High School.  

Soledad’s after-school health program is run by one of SMU's DNP students and Soledad High School alum, Irene Arroyo-Romero. Irene received a Beamer grant from our office in 2021 to start this program.  

At the field trip, Irene joined the Soledad students in doing activities in our simulation lab and with the CRNA and podiatric medicine teams, learning how to intubate, suture, and cast foot injuries.  

On May 12th the CCE and EHI in collaboration with Dr. Alice Vestergaard from SMU’s College of Nursing hosted almost 100 students and teachers from Health Professions High School come to our Sacramento Campus to participate in our Spring 2023 Health Palooza event. The goal of SMU’s Health Palooza is to provide underrepresented and first-generation students with the opportunity to learn about health and healthcare careers. At this all-day event, students got to participate in the following:  

• Hands-on skills labs and simulation activities 

• Mental health workshop facilitated by NAMI 

• Healthcare careers and SMU Admissions informational session 

• Panel of current SMU students and faculty about their journey to pursuing a healthcare career 

• Keynote speeches from SMU Board of Regents members Taty Aguilera and Caroline Cabias about the importance of having a healthcare workforce that reflects the diversity of California communities  

We are so proud of everything the CCE + EHI does in our community!