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Health Science Academy
About HSA •
HSA Program Components |
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The Health Science Academy is one of four core programs of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Heath, Inc. Founded in 1994, it is a collaboration between the
Institute and the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn. The program partners with St. John's University, Queens and New York City public and
Dr. Edgar Mandeville recognizes
HSA students at Sportsball |
parochial high schools to offer an academic science enrichment program to talented high school students who desire to pursue careers in science, medicine, allied and public health.
The Health Science Academy is a three-year program. Students enter the Academy in their sophomore year of high school and continue through graduation from high school. The curriculum provides
instruction in anatomy, physiology and histology of major organs in the human body; urban health issues, medical ethics statistics and research.
The Academy is committed to the pursuit of academic and personal excellence. The program provides students with an opportunity to increase their academic, interpersonal and life skills. Additional
benefits of the program include its positive impact on our students' self-esteem and their ability to compete effectively for admission to top colleges and universities throughout the United States.
Health Science Academy students look at threat of osteoporosis in the community
Students at the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health/Downstate Medical Center-funded Health Science Academy (HSA) recently conducted a study of the threat osteoporosis can have on women of Afro-Caribbean origin.
"We observed that the women in our community were hunched over and many were injured, especially at the hip," the students wrote in their proposal for the study. "We approached one of these women and asked what caused her hunched back. She responded 'osteoporosis.'"
The students wanted to find out how many community women were even aware of the disease, if they knew that it progressively decreases bone density and mass, or that they could be tested for and find ways to prevent the disease. They chose a local church and sent out survey questionnaires to its female parishioners. The survey answers showed that most women would like to learn more about osteoporosis, but had little interest in reading a series of pamphlets and documents about the disease. They were more interested in having the chance to attend informational workshop forums and learning about osteoporosis through watching videos on the subject.
"After we analyzed the results," the students wrote, "we then created a plan of action to spread awareness to those who are at risk of developing osteoporosis and those who can possibly be in the future. We plan to duplicate this process in other communities that may have high incidences of osteoporosis in its female population. As of now we plan on reaching 100 women within the year through this program."
HSA's students want to set up bi-monthly workshops that will show local women how to use osteoporosis home test kits and distribute workbooks on nutrition and exercise for workshop participants. The students also want to create a website and informational CDs and DVDs to further spread the word about osteoporosis.
After conducting the initial survey on their own, HSA students applied for grants to fund the next phase of their study. Clive Barnes, a top executive at HIP, had his organization fund the project in the amount of $7000. Later, HIP also funded the proposal grant in the amount of $6000.
"Our project is not a simple one-step program that just needs a bit of money. This program needs to be self-sustained," the students write. "Our main goal is to spread awareness about osteoporosis in the community. This grant will go a long way. It will give us the push we need to get this program going.
"We are in need of this program, if not in this generation then the next. When we reach the age of menopause we want to know there is help for us when it comes to osteoporosis. We would then be able to use all the data we collect and compare it against health records to see if we made a change with our intervention."
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