¿Que Pasa? LSU Health Community Outreach

LSU Health New Orleans faculty, staff and students partnered with Nuestra Voz to provide health, science and career information at the recent ¿Que Pasa? Fest 2016.

LSU Health volunteers handed out information and answered questions about health and diseases like breast cancer, diabetes and more.

The team showcased the opportunities LSU Health New Orleans provides for students of all ages and teachers. They shared information about the K-12 and undergraduate programs like the school partnerships and summer internships. They also raised awareness of the educational opportunities and career options afforded by LSU Health New Orleans schools of medicine, graduate studies, nursing, public health, dentistry and allied health professions.

"The opportunity to do outreach with members of the Latino community was very important to us," says Dr. Fern Tsien, Associate Professor of Genetics at LSU Health New Orleans, "particularly given the high incidence of breast cancer and health disparities in this population. The event may also help diversify the health professions by laying the groundwork for more Hispanics/Latinos to consider science careers."

The most popular offerings by far, though, were the activities for children. They included learning how to take blood pressure and a dress-up station with lab coats, gloves, face masks and scrubs.

The outreach was supported by a grant from Baptist Community Ministries for the LSU Health New Orleans Science Youth Initiative. The Initiative supports K-12 science and health education to the New Orleans area. It is directed by Dr. Tsien, along with Co-Director Martha Cuccia, MPH, MCHES, at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health.