Eight UNC students win fellowships for health care service projects

Six of the students will work in pairs on three projects; two will work individually, for a total of five projects – all with community service agencies in North Carolina. Each project won a $2,000 fellowship; each requires that 200 hours of community service be performed.

The UNC winners were dental students Christopher Durham of Manson, Brandi Jackson of Parkton, Jin Yi Kwon of High Point and Nozomu Yamauchi of Chapel Hill; and medical students Avik Chatterjee of Cary, Elizabeth Deans of Hickory, Carrie Hamby of Black Mountain and Natalie Muth of Yorkville, Ill. Jackson also is seeking a certificate in the UNC School of Public Health. Kwon, who previously earned a master’s degree from the school, won a Bryan Fellowship from the Carolina Center for Public Service last year.

Dr. Albert Schweitzer authorized formation of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship during World War II to support his medical work in Africa. Today, the fellowship’s mission is to reduce disparities in health care by developing leaders in service: individuals dedicated and skilled in helping underserved communities, whose example influences and inspires others.

In 1979 and 1991, respectively, the fellowship began African and U.S. programs that fund health care public service work by graduate and professional students. The North Carolina Fellowships became part of the U.S. program in 1994.

Chatterjee, the son of Drs. Amalendu and Arundhati, and Muth, the daughter of Jim and Gail Digate, will create a course for the Orange County public schools that is designed to combat obesity. This fall, they will train students at Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough to teach fourth-graders healthful habits.

In spring 2006, the high school students will teach a 12-week program, “Improving Meals and Physical Activity in Children and Teens,” at Grady Brown Elementary School in Hillsborough.

“Our goal is for the high school students to serve as health educators and role models for the children,” writes Chatterjee, a former high school teacher. “I noticed (then) that my students’ eating and physical activity habits were setting them up for poor health in the future.”

Muth, a registered dietitian and former personal trainer, has a master’s degree in public health and nutrition. She hopes to improve nutrition and physical activity among the students and empower them to take control of their health. She and Chatterjee aim to involve the students’ families in the program.

Deans is the daughter of Betty Steelman of Raleigh and Don Deans of Charlotte; Hamby, the daughter of Bill and Nancy Hamby. The two will enhance health and nutrition classes for Latina women at the Prospect Hill Community Health Center, about 30 miles northwest of Chapel Hill.

The center staff lacks time and resources to hold the classes often, the students write. Deans and Hamby will assess needs and develop a curriculum this summer, then teach the classes weekly throughout the next academic year.

The pair will invite women with young children, as well as the maternity patients now taking the classes. They will gather donated maternity and children’s clothes and items for prize drawings as incentives to attend; add a half-hour walk before each class; and teach about nutrition, food groups, supplements, healthful recipes and ways to find affordable healthful foods.

They will bring the staff and patients up to date on recent studies about health and diet and add to the center’s health education pamphlets and videos in Spanish. They will compare Latino cultural ideas about weight with the medical implications of obesity and teach mother-child games that increase activity levels.

In a separate project this summer, Deans and Hamby will teach health education classes at a women’s clinic in Honduras.

Durham, the son of Mamie Baker and the late Eugene Durham Sr., will teach disadvantaged teens, aged 13-18, about oral hygiene. He also will provide dental aids including floss and toothpaste and distribute literature about periodontal disease, oral cancer and diabetes.

Durham will meet with adolescent groups in Vance, Durham and Guilford counties through organizations including the United Way and The Boys & Girls Club, and in public housing projects.

Jackson, the daughter of Ronald and Berlinda Jackson, cites studies showing that many low-income children in North Carolina are unable to receive dental care. Only 16 percent of the state’s dentists participate in Medicaid, she writes; 40 percent of U.S. children have at least one decayed tooth by age 5.

Jackson plans to educate new and expectant mothers in Durham, Orange and Wake counties about oral hygiene and healthy feeding instructions for youngsters. She has arranged to speak at child-birthing and breastfeeding classes offered by UNC Health Care and Duke University Medical Center, and will seek other venues throughout the next academic year.

Topics will include fluoride, thumb-sucking, teething and pacifiers. Jackson will give the mothers kits that include infant toothbrushes, gauze pads for wiping babies’ gums, teething toys and more. She hopes her project will become a prototype for all N.C. county health departments.

Kwon, the daughter of Kyoung Ho and Soo Hee Kwon, and Yamauchi, son of Mitsuo and Shizuko Yamauchi, will assist residents of the nursing home Chapel Hill Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center. The pair will apply fluoride treatments, clean and mark dentures and help residents brush their teeth. They also will educate the staff about proper oral hygiene and how to provide quick and easy oral care for the residents.

Yamauchi wants to help nursing home residents because they often are overlooked. “(They) deserve just as much attention and care as anyone else,” he said. “Through our project, we hope to improve their quality of life.”

This release was researched and written by Jim Walsh of UNC News Services.

Contact: Barbara Heffner, N.C. Schweitzer Fellows Program, 704-895-6506

News Services contacts: Print, L.J. Toler, 919-962-8589; broadcast, Karen Moon, 919-962-9585

For further information please contact Emily Smith by email at emily_smith@unc.edu