BPS students to attend health disparities symposium at BU

BOSTON - More than 75 Boston Public Schools seniors will participate in the Creating New Health Care Professionals Health Disparities Symposium at Boston University School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center today. The symposium will focus on ways in which these students can impact the face of healthcare in Boston.

Elmer Freeman, Executive Director of the Center for Community Health Education, Research and Services, will be the keynote speaker. The symposium is offered in partnership with the American Red Cross, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, Boston Area Health Education Center, and Urban Community. The event will provide an overview of the racial and ethnic health disparities in the city of Boston and serve as a call to action for these students to help eliminate these disparities by pursuing careers in healthcare.

The students attending the symposium are all participants in one of two nursing-preparation programs in the Boston Public Schools.

Careers in Urban Nursing: Students in this program attend healthcare-related workshops and trainings offered by partner organizations, including a certified nursing assistant training through the Red Cross. Upon completing the Red Cross training, the students take the Massachusetts state CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) exam, enabling them to leave high school with the experience and credentials necessary to obtain a job as a nursing assistant. This program also provides students with support to help them transition to higher education, and many participants have gone on to enroll in college nursing programs or pursue medical interpreting training.

STAND (Students Taking Action for Nursing Diversity): This project, now in its second year, is a partnership between Boston Public Schools, Bunker Hill Community College, and the Boston Public Health Commission and is designed to help meet the need for trained health care professionals of color. The high school students are dually enrolled in a pre-nursing course at Bunker Hill for joint high school and college credit and receive mentoring from health care professionals and current Bunker Hill nursing students. They also participate in a customized series of workshops designed to introduce them to the four core courses in Bunker Hill's nursing program. Upon successful completion, the students are guaranteed admission and given full scholarships to Bunker Hill's nursing program.

Seven BPS high schools offer health careers as a pathway: Community Academy of Science and Health (Hyde Park); Health Careers Academy (Fenway); Brighton High School (Brighton); Parkway Academy of Technology and Health (West Roxbury); Jeremiah Burke High School (Dorchester); East Boston High School (East Boston); and Madison Park Technical Vocational High School (Roxbury).

The Boston Public Schools serves approximately 57,000 pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students in 14