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OHSU Goal To Boost Minority Health Care Enrollment
In O
fP U n n n
n l v 2.4
9 A n
a r ra n t n of i
In
Oregon,
only
percent
practicing physicians are minorities.
Only 3 percent o f registered nurses
and 0.8 percent of dentists are part of
under represented groups. Accord­
ing to these figures collected by the
Area Health Education Center at
Oregon Health Sciences University,
minority groups in health care fields
are vastly under represented in the
state.
However, the new nationwide
Project 3000 by 2000: Health Pro­
fessionals Partnership Initiative, im­
plemented locally by the AH EC pro­
gram and the Office of Multicultural
m i
•
Affairs at m OHSU,
aims . to i change
those statistics and unleash the po­
tential stored in Oregon’s minority
youth
“We hope to create a culturally
sensitive support system of institu­
tions, faculty, staff and health pro­
fessionals interested in helping mi­
norities pursue their dreams in health
care fields, “said John Saultz, assis­
tant vice president of regional educa­
tion at OHSU and the project’s coor­
dinator. “Thestate’s qualityofhealth
care stands to gain a great deal from
the diversity brought by researchers
and practioners of different ethnic
Oregon’s Students
Need To Improve
Health Behaviors
Oregon’s students demonstrated
generally healthy behaviors in 1995,
but there is lots o f room for improve­
ment, a recent Youth risk Behavior
Survey Report released by Oregon
Health Division reveals. The study
identifies strengths and pinpoints
areas where improvement can be
made.
Key findings show that in 1995,
most Oregon students did not carry a
weapon in the 30 days prior to being
surveyed. They were also highly
aware of the risk of HIV, and most
students did not use drugs. About
half reported healthy eating habits
and more than half maintained a
healthy level of physical activity.
Areas where work is needed in­
clude tobacco use, physical violence,
alcohol and drug use, and vehicle
safety.
.
. ..
backgrounds and different life expe
riences.”
Project 3000 by 2000 is a national
program sponsored by the American
Association of Medical Colleges to
increase the number of under repre­
sented minorities enrolled in medi­
cal schools across the country by the
year 2000. It is designed to increase
enrollment figures nationwide in
health care education programs to 25
percent (approximately 3,000) by the
year 2000 A partnership program
between the AAMC and the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation is offer­
ing $350,000 seed grants to institu­
tions such as OHSU to carry out this
vision on a statewide level.
The grant program at OHSU tracks
students through high school pro­
grams such as Jefferson High
School’s health sciences/biotechnol-
ogy curriculum program, through
college and into their health profes­
sions education. Project coordina­
tors keep a database of each stu­
dents’s progress and act as a support
system. Jefferson High School, Port­
land Community College and the
Columbia-Willamette AEHCare the
key partners in the pilot phase o f the
project. “The time is right in Oregon
to encourage minorities into this
health career pathway, “said Alfonso
Lopez-Vasuez, director o f Multicul­
tural Affairs at OHSU and project
manager. “Oregon’s education poli­
cy is evolving to focus substantial
commitment on the development of
magnet schools. This is our way of
supporting that effort and maximiz­
ing the potential of the state’s great­
est resource -- its youth".
The program will focus on re­
gions covered by the Colum bia
W illm aette AHEC, w hich in ­
cludes the Portland-m etro area
where 59 percent m inority popu-
lation lives.
The R obert W ood Jo h nson
Foundation is the n atio n ’s larg­
est philanthropy devoted exclu­
sively to health and health care.
It became a national institution
in 1972 and co n c e n tra te s iis
grantm aking in four areas: assu r­
ing access to basic health serv ic­
es; im proving the way services
are organized and provided for
people with chronic health con­
ditions; reducing the harm caused
by substance abuse; and helping
the nation address the problem
o f rising health care cost.
Health Division Consumer Protection Notice
H ealth o ffic ia ls issued a
consum er protection notice to
private well owners who are
disinfecting and testing their
drinking water as they recover
from recent flooding.
“Not all Oregon laborato­
ries that test drinking water
are certified to do so ,’ says
M ichael Skeels, public health
laboratory director at Oregon
Health Division. “Our recom ­
m endation is that private well
ow ners concerned with the
safety o f their water make sure
that the laboratory they use has
been certified for drinking water
testing by the Health Division,
and that it uses an EPA approved
drinking water method for test­
ing.”
Because there is no state regu­
lation o f testing of private drink­
ing w ater wells, anyone can open
a laboratory and use any method
for testing, according to Skeels.
He also warns that a small num­
ber o fc ertified labs may be using
non-standard collection and test­
ing m ethods for private samples.
“ We have also heard that some
people have been offered home
test kits for water testing, and
this is not a reliable p rocedure,’
Skeels warns.
Homeowners may obtain in­
form ation about certified drink­
ing water labs in their area by
contacting their county health
departm ent.
A dditionally, the state public
health laboratory will do private
w ell
w a te r
te s tin g ,
but
hom eowners must have the work
ap p ro v ed through th e ir local
health departm ents.
“Any private well that has
had flood water flow into it is
c o n s id e re d c o n ta m in a te d ,”
Skeels said. “ It is extrem ely
important that these wells be
properly disinfected and prop­
erly tested to assure that the
water is safe to drink.”
Skeelsalso said that the IDEXX
Corporation, makers of Colilert,
an EPA approved method, has do­
nated materials to do several hun­
dred water tests to help people
recovering from the flood.
Womens Health Study Opens
Blue Cross and Blue Shield o f
Oregon has joined forces with
Kaiser Perm anente’s C enter for
Health Research to help carry
out the largest long-term study
o f wom en’s health issues ever
undertaken in the United States.
Known as the W om en’s Health
Initiative, this 15-year nation­
wide study seeks to learn how to
prevent the three major causes o f
death and d isa b ility in o ld er
women - heart disease, cancer
(b re a s t and c o lo re c ta l), and
osteoporosis.
The study is open to women o f
any race who are 50-79 years old
and past the m enopause. Study
participants must plan to remain
in this area for at least three years.
Women interested in joining can
call for more information at (503)
335-2450 or (360) 418-6002.
More than 4,000 women in the
Portland-V ancouver area are ex­
pected to join the study. Because
o f the study guidelines, though,
many more tim es this num ber
need to ben contacted.
“ We are very pleased to be
part o f this important effort to
prevent diseases that have such
an enormous effect on women in
this country,” says John Santa,
MD Medical Director for Blue
Cross and Blue Shield o f O re­
gon. “ If we can find effective
ways to prevent these diseases, it
would be an enorm ous boon to
women and to our society.” Many
people still think o f heart disease
as a m an’s disease, but the fact is
that 52 percent o f all cardiovas­
cular deaths in the U.S. occur
among women. Breast cancer is
the second largest cause o f can­
cer death among women, after
lung cancer, and colorectal can­
cer is the third. And the number
o f women who die o f hip frac­
tures resulting from osteoporosis
is nearly the same as the num ber
who die from breast or colorectal
cancer.
“The preventive approaches
being tested in this study - hor­
mone replacem ent therapy, d i­
etary intervention, and calcium
and vitamin D supplem ents - have
all shown prom ise but have not
yet been proven,” says Barbara
Valance, Dr. P.H., and principal
in v e s tig a to r o f the P o rtlan d
study. “ Our plant is to recruit
nearly 160,000 women through­
out the United States and to fol­
low them for 12-15 years. When
a research study is this large and
long, we should be able to pro­
vide women and their health care
providers with valid scientific
inform ation about the benefits
and risks o f these preventive ap­
proaches.”
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N lUtF^it In'Ic'tcii4 Liliic.iiiiin Program
Call 503-288-0033
Tri-Met Service Adjustments
Public Workshops
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Tri-Met is proposing adjustments for September 1996 to improve bus
service. Some popular routes will receive service increases, while other
routes will receive minor service reductions. Participate in public
workshops to express your comments and ideas.
Monday, March 25
Tuesday, March 26
Sunnyside School Library
13401 SE 132nd Avenue
Clackamas
7-8:30 p.m.
Portland Building
2nd Floor Auditorium
1120 SW 5th Avenue
Noon-1:30 p.m.
PROTECTION is an environmental
responsibility with a long history
at Pacific P o w e r . _ _ _ _ _ _ _
— Company biologists, together with local
Tuesday, March 26
Alameda School Cafeteria
2732 NE Fremont
7-8:30 p.m.
If you would like more information on the proposed
service changes, call 238-7442 and leave your name and
mailing address, ITY 238-5811. Persons requiring a sign
language interpreter may call 238-4952 or TTY 238-5811
weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., at least two working days
prior to the workshop.
agencies and communitg groups, have
WORKED TOGETHER
to insure effective protection o f native x
wildlife from dangers associated
with utility operations._____ -,
TRI-MET
238-RIDE
TTY 238-$811
In 1995. Pacific Power was r e e o g t t t o e d
by the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation
for its work protecting hawks,
eagles and other raptors
from harm. The presentation of the
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