News Release

Summer Enrichment Program in Health Management & Policy combats health disparities, with undergraduate internships in Michigan clinics, hospitals, and community organizations.

June 9, 2008, news release from the University of Michigan School of Public Health

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—They come from Baltimore, Los Angeles, and 18 urban and rural sites in between. Their undergrad majors range from biology to economics, business to biomedical anthropology--and more. What they all share is a commitment to eliminating racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic health disparities.

On June 9, after three days of orientation, 20 students began internships sponsored by the University of Michigan School of Public Health (UM SPH) Summer Enrichment Program in Health Management & Policy (SEP).

Now in its 23rd year, SEP annually sponsors highly competitive 8-week paid placements at health and community organizations in southeastern Michigan (greater Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Flint). At large hospitals, neighborhood health centers, and other sites, the students will work with preceptors on a variety of policy and patient care projects. The projects relate to disadvantaged populations, addressing their systematic exposure to conditions and situations that have negative consequences for their health.

Meet Some 2008 SEP Students:

Kyla Searle, a public health and metropolitan studies major from UCLA, will work at Community Health and Social Services Center (CHASS) in Detroit. Her main interest is working with young people, particularly those challenged by un- or underinsurance "to help them develop a good relationship with their own health, so they can take care of themselves."
Sharifa Avery learned about SEP from a professor at Hampton University in Virginia, where she majors in biology. She will be working with teenagers at the Corner Health Center in Ypsilanti. "I'm interested in health care, and how my scientific knowledge can be applied to dealing with disparities in health care," she says.
Eric Rodriguez appreciates the diverse backgrounds of his fellow SEP students, and the program itself. "It's focused, has a lot of give-and-take, and will be good experience for those of us who go into the field," he says. Rodriguez, who majors in psychology and business administration at the University of Texas-San Antonio, will be working at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor.
Mary Beth Tobin, a health policy major from Pennsylvania State, will work at Hospice of Michigan in Detroit. "I've worked in hospitals before, but this experience will be valuable because hospice is part of a growing industry," she says.
Harry Taylor, a sociology major from Howard University in Washington, D.C. who will work at Detroit Receiving Hospital, says all the SEP students "want to positive change and help eliminate health disparities."

SEP was founded in 1986 by UM SPH professor Richard Lichtenstein, who continues to serve as director. "We are, once again, extremely pleased with the quality of the students in this year's SEP class," he says. "It is most gratifying to be able to identify students who are interested in achieving social justice in health care and to place them in internships that give them first hand experience in working to eliminate health disparities. Many of these students will go on to become leaders in the fields of public health and health care management, and I believe that their intelligence, idealism, and enthusiasm is just what we need to bring positive reform to the U.S. health care system."

The 400-plus alumni of SEP have gone on to careers in many aspects of health care. More than 85 percent have attended graduate school and the largest number of these have obtained masters degrees in public health, either the Master of Health Services Administration (M.H.S.A.) or the Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degrees.

Website for the Summer Enrichment Program in Health Management and Policy: http://www.sph.umich.edu/sep/

The University of Michigan School of Public Health has been working to promote health and prevent disease since 1941, and is consistently ranked among the top five public health schools in the nation. Faculty and students in the school's five academic departments and dozens of collaborative centers and initiatives are forging new solutions to the complex health challenges of today, including chronic disease, health care quality and finance, emerging genetic technologies, climate change, socioeconomic inequalities and their impact on health, infectious disease, and the globalization of health.

Contact: Terri Mellow, director of communications
Phone: (734) 764-8094
E-mail: twm@umich.edu