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Goshen College

Summer Community Health Innovation Program

January 22, 2018

Thanks to a grant from the Judd Leighton Foundation, the IUSM-South Bend campus (Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend) will be a focal point for education in public health/social determinants of health. Our new summer program is called S-CHIP – Summer Community Health Innovation Program. Starting this summer, we will be able to pay a combination of undergraduates and second-year medical students to contribute to a variety of community organizations. This participation in local organizations will be combined with classwork, critical reflection in small groups, and researching/prototyping community health initiatives.

As an example, for undergraduates, CHIP would mean something like the following:

$400/week stipend X8 weeks for

  • 20-24 hours/week working at the Center for the Homeless or Church Community Services or the Food Bank of Northern Indiana or Our Lady of the Road Drop-In Center or similar organization
  • 4 hours/week in didactic lectures and small group settings learning about social determinants, health inequities, and critically reflecting on their work experiences
  • 4 hours/week research into local community needs and prototyping programs to meet those needs
  • Possibly 4 hours/week in a setting such as Sister Maura Brannick, CSC, Health Center or Maple City Health Care Center

In upcoming years, we will be able to accept up to 12 undergraduate students. This summer we are looking for 6-8 undergraduates from the various local colleges and universities (i.e., Goshen College, St. Mary’s, Notre Dame, IUSB). We primarily want students going into their junior or senior undergraduate year. A variety of majors would make sense, including those working at health science, nursing, social work, K-12 education, and philosophy or religious studies.  We are not only looking for students going into healthcare-related fields.  Any student concerned with social justice and/or community service might be a good fit.

Interested students should contact me at jkotva@iu.edu or 574-333-4908.