UMaine Students Head North to Offer Public Health Education to Schoolchildren, Migrant Workers
Contact: Crisanne Blackie, 581-2587; Aimee Guy, 233-9143, George Manlove, 581-3756
A dozen University of Maine students planning careers in healthcare, dentistry and optometry left the Orono campus Monday for four days of volunteer work, providing health education programs to Northern Maine migrant workers and children in rural and underserved communities in Aroostook County.
This is the third year UMaine’s Health and Legal Professions Advising Office has sent students north as part of the university’s community outreach initiatives and to expose students to rural areas in the state that are underserved by healthcare professionals, says Crisanne Blackie, a health and legal professions career specialist with UMaine’s Career Center.
Students typically meet with 200-300 students in Headstart and area elementary and middle schools, and about 150 migrant workers on broccoli farms over the four days. They also visit Northern Maine high school students to encourage them to consider careers in healthcare and medicine, beginning with pre-professional preparation at UMaine.
Students are visiting schools, community centers and farm worker communities in Caribou, Presque Isle, Ashland, Limestone, Fort Kent, Wallagrass, Wisdom, Eagle Lake, Westfield and Little Feathers through Thursday, Aug. 28.
Blackie says part of the initiative is to expose the students planning careers in healthcare to rural areas where services may be limited, with the hope that they will return as healthcare professionals to work in underserved areas later.
“We started this because we wanted students to gain more exposure to the healthcare needs of rural and underserved populations,” Blackie says. “A lot of times, students are asked to come back while they’re in medical school to do a rotation in a rural area. Sometimes, students don’t know what a rural area means.”
Nearly 13,000 migrant workers are registered to work seasonally in Maine, according to Blackie. Career Center’s Cathy Marquez says the volunteer work also exposes UMaine students to a total immersion into Spanish-speaking communities, where they sometimes cook and eat with working families. The service-learning experience also can enhance a student’s application to medical school, Marquez says.
Marquez adds that rural Maine is in dire need of new healthcare professionals, specifically dentists and physicians. The pre-medical program at UMaine encourages students to consider establishing practices in Maine after they become professionally certified.
The student visits to The County are funded by and coordinated with the Acadia Health Education Coalition based in Bangor and supported by the Maine Migrant Health Program in Augusta.
To reach members of the UMaine delegation, call Aimee Guy, who is accompanying the students, at 233-9143, or the UMaine Career Center at 581-1359.