PHR Student Blog

The National Student Program’s main purpose is to strengthen Chapters’ advocacy and education skills and support the Chapters’ connection to PHR’s human rights work. As the school year draws to a close, the PHR National Student Program is considering how to make next year better, and we need your help. Take a moment to fill out an evalution survey for the 2009-2010 National Student Program.

Please complete the appropriate survey. Chapter Leaders, you do not need to fill out the evaluation survey for All Students, only your own. Many thanks!

• All Students
• Chapter Leaders

Your response will enable us to provide the skill-building, educational materials, and advocacy opportunities that you want and need.

Thank you for all you’ve done this year with
PHR!

Later this week, more about student leadership and strengthening your PHR Chapter for next fall:

• Putting the Fun into Fundraising for a Strong Start Next Fall
• Opportunities for Student Leadership in Your Region

Stay tuned!

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!

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!

Being involved in the Physicians for Human Rights Student Program was one of the most rewarding and career-shaping experiences of medical school. I chose to study medicine because of a desire to improve access to and systems of care for the most vulnerable populations around the world. However, typical medical education does little to prepare students for such a career, which requires an understanding of human rights, policy-making, and advocacy. PHR, however, connected me and other students with the leading experts in the field of health and human rights, providing us with training and engaging us in crucial advocacy activities.

In 2003, we started a student chapter at Emory University. That year, PHR connected us with internationally renowned advocates and clinicians in the field of aiding survivors of torture. Through their training, and with guidance from PHR’s student coordinator and Asylum Network coordinator, we were able to start the Atlanta Asylum Network (AAN) for Torture Survivors, within the Emory Institute of Human Rights. The AAN is an entirely student-run, volunteer organization that trains and coordinates health professional to provide expert medical and psychological testimony for survivors of torture seeking political asylum. Working with these survivors has given me tremendous appreciation for the strength and passion of political activists and others who have suffered through torture. My experiences with these inspiring survivers of such egregious human rights violations have reinforced my dream of working in the field of health and human rights. PHR’s ongoing support and guidance has provided me with the mentorship and skills I needed to realize this dream.

Thanks to PHR’s training and support, I have not only worked with survivors of torture in Atlanta, but I was also well prepared to conduct research on the health issues and human rights conditions of child soldiers in Nepal, many of whom have witnessed or suffered torture. I went on to get a PhD in medical anthropology, studying the effects of political violence and other human rights violations on the mental health of conflict survivors in Nepal.

Brandon Kohrt discussing human rights violations and community rebuilding projects with leaders Hari Bahadur Sijuwal and Puru Regmi in Dhading, Nepal.

Now in a psychiatry residency program, I am combining my interests in human rights, global health, and clinical mental health care to work with others developing a community-based mental health program in Atlanta for refugees, asylees, and other immigrants, many of whom are survivors of political violence. It was only through the support and guidance of PHR that such work was made possible. And, through the Student Program, I not only have the mentorship of PHR members to guide me in this work, but I also have a national network of other students and young human rights professionals with whom to collaborate and discuss novel ways to improve health and protect human rights around the world.

Brandon Kohrt, MD, PhD, is a resident at Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, in Atlanta, GA.