PHR Student Blog

Are Health and Human Rights linked at your school? Showcase your school’s education initiatives at the National Conference’s Education in Action Expo!

Initiatives could include:

• Offering a new elective
• Persuading professors to devote a class session to human rights
• Helping professors integrate human rights into discussions of other topics
• Dedicating a journal club meeting to human rights literature
• Inviting a human rights advocate to speak at your school
• Demonstrating a commitment to the right to health through direct service

Don’t be bashful – your idea could be an inspiration for other schools!

Presenters will display their projects on posters during breakfast and lunch on the day of the conference. To be considered for the Expo, please email 300 words (or less) about your school’s human rights education to expo[at]phrusa[dot]org.

Don’t forget to ask your school if support is available for students who present at conferences.

Questions? Just contact me.

Everyone at PHR is getting excited about next month’s National Conference, Health and Human Rights Education in 2010. The Conference will take place on Saturday, February 20^th, at Boston University Medical School. The Conference is a chance for representatives from your Chapter to plan how to improve human rights education at your school and nationwide.

Have you been accepted? When you’re accepted, you will be sent a confirmation email with a link to the official registration page. Please be sure to click on that link and complete the registration process.

If you’ve already registered, thank you! Make your arrangements for travel and lodging soon to get the best deals. If you’re interested in meeting other students from your region, join your regional social the Friday evening before the conference. More information will be announced soon.

Are you bringing a faculty member? Need ideas about who to invite, or how? We’ve put together a guide to inviting faculty who might be interested in the Conference’s Educator track.

If you have any questions, contact me and let me know how I can help.

PHR’s National Conference will take place on Saturday, February 20th, at Boston University Medical School. This year’s conference, Health and Human Rights Education in 2010, will give you the chance to meet other leaders in the area of human rights education (both students and faculty), hear inspiring speakers, present ideas at the Education Innovations Expo, build your capacity to influence curriculum decisions, and design a concrete plan to help your school incorporate human rights into medical and public health education.

Take a look at the Conference agenda to see the day’s offerings.

The conference is a chance to consider the daunting tasks that confronts physicians, nurses and public health specialists: building — and often rebuilding — health systems that are accessible to all; fighting infectious pandemics like HIV/AIDS; preventing and treating disease; providing humanitarian relief to people facing natural or man-made disasters; and more.

The last 20 years have shown the world that brilliant bio-medical advances cannot alone bring health to the world’s poorest people. Medicine must go hand-in-hand with human rights to eliminate health disparities and ensure a healthy population.

The recent earthquake in Haiti highlights this challenge. There are numerous reasons why a country might not be prepared to mitigate or respond to the destruction of an earthquake. Health professionals who are eager to respond to the urgent needs of the survivors must also be aware of the political, cultural, and economic context of the situation.

Health professionals are then confronted with the question: is this a human rights issue? Doctors, nurses, public health researchers and practitioners, and other professionals who have dealt with this question in the classroom will be more prepared to address it in their careers. (No need to wait until you are a health professional to help Haiti — take action for Haiti now!)

This year’s Conference aims to change the paradigm of medicine to one which embraces human rights by empowering student leaders to introduce human rights into their school’s curriculum. The Conference is the first of its kind to solely focus on bringing students and faculty together to discuss how to integrate human rights into medical education. This jam-packed day will serve as a springboard for future health and human rights initiatives and help students make lasting change at their university and in their profession.

The deadline to apply is January 20th — apply today!

We are thrilled to announce that Representative James McGovern (D-MA) will lead the closing National Conference Town-Hall Meeting on February 20^th, 2010.

Representative McGovern is the co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Congress, as well as the Vice Chairman of the House Rules Committee and co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus.

Drawing on extensive policy experience defending human rights, Representative McGovern will bring his unique insight to the Conference. In Congress, Representative McGovern has championed education initiatives, fought to provide adequate health care for Americans, and has led congressional investigations into human rights abuses.

This conversation will be an opportunity for Conference participants to discuss how to advance a health and human rights agenda through legislative action. We anticipate that this will be an informative and inspiring conclusion to the day.

Don’t miss the opportunity to meet Representative McGovern and other leaders in the health and human rights field. Coordinate with other students at your school to submit an application to attend the National Conference today! The final deadline to apply is January 20^th, but with rolling admissions, there are limited spaces left!

Welcome back! We’re excited to confirm several world-renowned speakers who will be presenting at the National Conference on February 20, 2010.

• Helen Potts, PhD, Chief Program Officer of Health Programs, Physicians for Human Rights. Dr. Potts will speak about the Right to Health on a panel entitled “Human Rights and Health Education: Dueling Frameworks or Essential Integration?”
• Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH, Professor of Epidemiology, International Health and Health, Behavior and Society; Director of Johns Hopkins Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program. Dr. Beyrer will co-facilitate a Strategy Session entitled “Human Rights in Graduate Education.”
• Vincent Iacopino, MD, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School; Senior Medical Advisor to Physicians for Human Rights. Dr. Iacopino will co-lead the panel entitled “Human Rights and Health Education: Dueling Frameworks or Essential Integration?” and will speak about the urgency of incorporating a human rights approach in professional medical training.

The deadline to apply to the Conference is January 20, 2010, so start building a team from your chapter, and be sure to reach out to faculty members you would like to invite! Consult our Faculty Guide if you have any questions. We look forward to reading your application!

We’re gearing up for the National Conference (February 20^th, 2009), and have just posted the details for each session. Check out the exciting lineup of panels, discussions, skill development workshops and planning sessions on the best strategies for integrating a human rights curriculum into medical education. We’ve also posted a list of confirmed presenters and their bios.

We hope to see you in Boston in February! Registration closes January 20^th, so apply today!

Questions? Email Hannah at hlauber[at]phrusa[dot]org.

We encourage all students to invite faculty members from their schools to the Conference, as there will be time specifically allotted for students and faculty to meet and plan initiatives to bring back to campus.

We have put together a guide on the conference website with some tips for reaching out to faculty members to invite them to attend the conference and ask them to support students’ HHRE initiatives.

Check out the guide here!

Have you spearheaded a project, such as an accredited elective course, to educate your classmates about human rights? Have you organized a reading, writing or film group that works to further human rights advocacy? Does your medical or public health school have an innovative curriculum you’d like to share?

Attend PHR’s 2010 National Conference and present your project at the Education Innovations Expo!

The Education Innovations Expo provides an excellent opportunity for students to showcase their initiatives and to serve as examples for others in how to further human rights awareness in the health community. Presenters will display their projects on posters during breakfast and lunch on the day of the conference, and will receive a Presenter’s Invitation to the conference from PHR!

To apply for the expo, first apply to attend the conference. Then email 300 words or less about your educational innovations to expo[at]phrusa[dot]org. We’ll get back to you about two weeks after you apply. Apply early, as you can use your status as an expo presenter to secure funding from your school. The last day to apply is January 20th.

We hope to see many of you there, presenting your great work!

With an innovative approach and new format to this year’s annual PHR National Conference, you may have a few questions about what to expect and how to attend. Below, we’ve answered some “Frequently Asked Questions” about this year’s conference, Health and Human Rights Education in 2010, being held on February 20 at Boston University School of Medicine (Boston, MA).

Who should attend the conference?
We hope that the majority of our National PHR chapters will attend, with two to three students and a faculty member or dean representing each school. We also welcome applications from medical students who may not have a PHR student chapter but are committed to furthering human rights education in their curriculum. Students are encouraged to apply online. If you are a Dean or faculty member and are interested in attending, email Sarah at skalloch[at]phrusa[dot]org.

What will the conference include?
The National Conference will feature world-renowned speakers, panel discussions, strategy plenary sessions, skill development workshops and action planning sessions to address all aspects of integrating health and human rights into the health education field. The jam-packed day will provide information on the critical need to integrate health and human rights into education, strategies for incorporating quality human rights education in curriculum, as well as tangible skills and solutions to help lead your campus on this issue.

How does this conference differ from previous PHR National Student Conferences?
This year’s conference is the first of its kind. It will focus on empowering students and faculty to change the paradigm of medicine to one which embraces human rights through the incorporation of human rights in health professional education. We will bring together a select group of roughly 150 committed students and faculty members who plan to be the frontrunners of the curriculum change movement on their campuses. This select group will gain vital ideas, strategies, skills, and connections to make health and human rights education a reality for their student bodies.

What will I gain from attending?
The conference will provide an excellent opportunity to network and strategize with dedicated students, faculty members and Deans who strive to bring a greater understanding of human rights to their classrooms, and to meet experts in the human rights field who have dedicated their careers to furthering this cause. You will learn from and engage with student leaders around the country who are passionate about health and human rights in their education. You will also gain new insights on the health and human rights approach, tools to create electives at your school, valuable resources and connections, and tangible ideas for getting your campus involved to shape your own education and that of your peers.

How should I prepare to have the best conference experience?
If you are accepted to represent your chapter and/or campus, you will be called on to prepare a preliminary plan for a tangible educational-change project you would like to see on your campus. As the conference approaches, we will also give you a short reading assignment to help you prepare for some of the conference’s key topics.

Whether you are looking to improve a current project or proposing a new initiative for you school, we recommend you draw on our Health and Human Rights Education Toolkit for guidance and resources for your planning process.

Questions? Email us at conference[at]phrusa[dot]org.

Download a printable version of the National Conference FAQs (pdf).

We are thrilled to announce that PHR’s National Conference will take place on Saturday, February 20^th, at Boston University Medical School. This year’s conference, Health and Human Rights in 2010, will empower students and faculty to advance the medical profession to one which embraces human rights.

The conference is the first of its kind to solely focus on bringing students and faculty together to integrate health and human rights into the health education field. The day will bring together over a hundred of the country’s most committed student leaders and fifty pioneering educators and Deans as a springboard for initiatives to advance health and human rights education. Attendees will have the incomparable opportunity to be a part of a national movement to change the paradigm of the health professions to one that promotes health and human rights worldwide.

You have the opportunity to be one of a select group of students to represent your school and help lead the way towards a more comprehensive inclusion of human rights in medical education! Have a PHR student chapter in your school? Get the members together to discuss who will apply to represent your school. Don’t have a PHR chapter? You can still join us if you have a vision for health and human rights education in your school. Fill out an application to represent your school at the conference!

The jam-packed day will include:

• World-renowned, dynamic leaders to facilitate panel discussions about the best way integrate human rights curriculum in medical education.
• Ground-breaking discussions in panels, strategy sessions, skill development workshops, and planning sessions.
• The Education Innovations Expo, during which student presenters will share successful health and human rights educational programs and provide tips and ideas for other students striving to do the same. (Click here if you’d like to present an elective, reading or film group, or other educational programming to further human rights advocacy.)
• A town-hall style forum to discuss the need for a human rights approach in the health profession, with a focus on the fight against some of the globe’s greater health burdens.
• A unique opportunity to develop your networking and hands-on advocacy skills alongside some of the nation’s leaders in health and human rights.

Check out the conference website at PHRStudentConference.org for information about attending the conference and getting to and staying in Boston. And stay tuned to the student blog for the official conference agenda, presenter announcements, and other conference updates as the event approaches. Contact me with any questions in the meantime.