Youth Conference Offers Perspective on Health Professions

Talking Point: Dr. Marzan discusses health disparities with the assembled students

In Stitches: A student tries his hand at suturing

Fractured Instruction: Demonstrating the finer points of splinting a broken bone

For the third year in a row, Einstein’s Bronx Science and Health Opportunities Partnership (BxSHOP) held its annual Medical Pre-Professional Youth Conference on June 28 and June 29. The conference, which takes place on consecutive days, first at the Fordham University campus and then at Einstein, offered participants two panel discussions along with a variety of educational and career workshops, and opportunities to take part in medical hands-on workshops. Approximately 80 students from Fordham’s STEP Program, the Bronx Westchester Area Health Education Center (BW/AHEC), and the College of Medicine’s Einstein Enrichment Program (EEP) attended the conference.

Dr. Maria Marzan, co-director of BxSHOP welcomed conference participants at the kickoff held at Fordham University, while Dr. Yvette Calderon, associate dean for diversity enhancement at Einstein, was the conference keynote speaker. Other presenters representing the Einstein community included Dr. Genevieve Neal-Perry, associate dean for diversity mentoring; Dr. Folashade Adeshuko, Einstein class of 2012; Daphne Elivert, a third-year medical student and Deborah Cordero, a counselor for the EEP. In addition, two alumni of the EEP – Shiranda McCoy (a physician’s assistant) and Leslie Rodriguez (a nurse) – returned to offer hands-on workshops concerning checking a person’s vitals, such as pulse and blood pressure. The conference concluded with a stimulating send-off delivered by BxSHOP co-director Dr. Hal Strelnick and the presentation of certificates to participants by Dr. Marzan.

This special "pipeline" conference is designed to expose students to the various healthcare and science careers that exist for them to pursue, and is a collaborative effort of Fordham, BW-AHEC and Einstein under the direction and support of BxSHOP.

Diastolic Impressions: Learning how to take blood pressure

Collaborative Effort: (from left) Renaldo Alba (Fordham); Dr. Maria Marzan (Einstein); Medina Byars (Einstein); Fabricio Caro (BW/AHEC); and A. Julie Cruz (Einstein)