From the Desk of Diversity
Northwestern's Diversity & Inclusion Newsletter
The Year of the Sheep/Goat Edition
- Gong Hei Fat Choi - The Year of the Sheep/Goat
- Words to Live By
- Did You Know?
- University Community Member Spotlight
- Diversity Leadership Scholar: Personal Perspective
- Links to Explore
- Days to Remember
- Sickle Cell Disease & Blood Donation
- Topics in Diversity
- Community Engagement
- Upcoming Events
- Get Involved
- Learning & Training Opportunities
- Apply for a Scholarship
Gong Hei Fat Choi - The Year of the Sheep/Goat
The Northwestern Health Sciences University is partnering with the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Association of Minnesota to present an all day event to celebrate the Lunar New Year on February 28 11:00am - 4:00pm. This event will be held at the NWHSU campus (cafeteria and foyer).
Our plans for this year include all of the fantastic things YOU want to see in a celebration. Music. Dancing. Food. Drumming. Top notch lectures - check out who is speaking:
1:00-2:00pm Colleen Moore, L.Ac. ”Drink Your Way to Better Health”
2:00-3:00pm Joshua Eha, L.Ac. “Disease Roots in the Energy Field”
3:00-4:00pm Dr. Xiaoyan Hu, L.Ac. “Spring and Food therapy”
This event is open to the public and free for students. Please bring your families to celebrate with us.
Continuing education (CE/PDA) credits for the lectures are available for a nominal fee through AOMAM and NWHSU. To register in advance for the lectures or to get CE/PDA credits, please click here.
Submitted by Beau Foshee, wfoshee@nwhealth.edu
Words to Live By
Observe other families with your family
Observe other communities with your community
Observe other countries with your country
Observe the world with the world
---Lao Tse, Tao Te Ching Chapter 54
Did You Know?
University Community Member Spotlight
Dr. Jim Hulbert is a real champion of the students at Northwestern. He is an associate professor and department head for Social Sciences & Humanities in the College of Undergraduate Health Sciences. "Jim's four Courses" have evolved into the "Health Professions Core" courses within the Bachelor of Science in Human Biology program. He and his colleagues provide all students, who come to our University with two or three years of undergraduate work, the opportunity to complete their BS degrees at Northwestern. Virtually one-hundred percent of all Northwestern graduates have their bachelor's degrees.
Dr. Hulbert has been instrumental in organizing internship trips to La Clínica de la Mariposa in Costa Rica and has encouraged our university to participate in the annual dragon boat races on St. Paul's Lake Phalen. He is currently taking the new "Mandarin for Health Professionals" course with Northwestern's AOM, chiropractic, and undergraduate students, and faculty members. The course is taught by Emily Fair (Qin Qing-Yu), an MAT-Mandarin graduate of the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Hulbert's colleague states, "Jim Hulbert is one of the best professors around. In my experience, Dr. Hulbert's priority is giving the students a quality education, especially in the liberal arts." His colleagues noticed; so have we. Dr. Hulbert, thank you for your service to our university and our collective professions.
Submitted by Beau Foshee, wfoshee@nwhealth.edu
Printed with Dr. Hulbert's permission.
Diversity Leadership Scholar: Personal Perspective
I was led to Northwestern in a number of ways, most of which started when I was in undergrad at the University of Minnesota working on my biology and American Indian Studies degrees. It was during this time that I took a part time job at a local health food co-op that offered an assortment of natural remedies and wellness products. I had always considered myself healthy, in terms of diet and exercise, but at that time I was a relative novice regarding Western herbs, homeopathy, tinctures, probiotics, or Chinese herbal formulas.
Over the years of working at the co-op and being exposed to non-pharmaceutical options for healing and ailments, my personal relationship to health and what I considered healing began to change and evolve as I started to use natural remedies myself. My confidence in natural forms of medicine increase over the years and eventually it became a normal part of my life. I knew when I had a cold or flu I would go to a certain type of herbal formula, or if I was struggling with sleep I would seek out a different assortment of herbal formulas. So began my love of plants from a botany and pharmokinetic standpoint, so much so that I almost switched my undergrad degree but was so close to graduating at that point that I decided to continue on my existing tract. My love of botanical remedies was a large part in what lead me to discover acupuncture.
Post graduation from the U of M I ended up taking a corporate job that started off exciting, but eventually started to significantly increase in stress as the years went on. Gradually, my health changed and I could feel myself becoming more and more unbalanced. After a few years I started having frequent headaches that often ramped up to a full-blown migraine. My sleep was horrible and I felt totally exhausted most days. I had insurance that covered acupuncture so I decided that I needed to seek a professional’s help since what I was doing in my life with self remedies was not enough to compensate for how stress and long hours were affecting my health. It was through acupuncture that I found relief and was able to regain what I considered a healthy balance again, and it was a combination of both the acupuncture treatments and the specifically formulated herbs that really made a difference.
Long story short, when I decided that I wanted to go back to school to pursue my Masters degree I knew that I needed to learn Chinese Medicine and acupuncture. It captured my interest from a scientific as well as a natural health care standpoint. It wasn't until I was ready to leave my job to go back to school that I discovered Northwestern and I remember being excited to have a program available in Minnesota. It was quite a surprise actually as I just assumed that I needed to move to the west coast for such a degree.
I had heard about the Diversity scholarship when I was talking with admissions and I applied directly during the enrollment process. I was admitted but the scholarship ended up being awarded to someone else. Nevertheless I began the program without the scholarship and jumped right into the first year of acupuncture curriculum.
Over the course of that first year that I also became involved in Student Senate, participated in leading various clubs on campus, attended events and volunteer opportunities on campus, and started working at Pillsbury House as a clinic coordinator.
Needless to say my first year was a whirlwind, and by the end of it I was elected to VP of Student Senate. It was also during this time I applied for the diversity scholarship again just to see if this time around would make a difference. Well, it did and between my VP Student Senate obligations and the Diversity Scholarship commitments, my second year at Northwestern launched me into a whole new level of working with interdisciplinary groups and helping to shape the overall student body experience on campus during that time. I learned a tremendous amount during this time and have had the pleasure to work with some truly inspiring professors and fellow student leaders who have helped shape my academic career at Northwestern.
Now that I have recently graduated and have had a chance to reflect on my experience, I am proud to have put in the extra time and effort it takes to get involved outside of the classroom. The juggling act of studying, classroom expectations, clinical expectations, leading student clubs & orgs, working with student affairs and other department for events, along with also working a part time job was at times a lot to manage, but for me I honestly wouldn't have done it any other way. That was my journey. In fact, it helped refine what I’m truly passionate about, how I want to incorporate those things into my professional career and to be able to professionally call upon my fellow colleagues that have helped shape my network during my time at Northwestern proves to be a critical factor in my professional development. I would not be where I am today, post grad, had I not taken the extra time and initiative to get involved.
Currently, I am looking to pursue my interest in integrative care plans and acupuncture research at the U of M School of Public Health, in addition to working part time in a clinical setting. I am presently working on a retrospective research project involving Pillsbury House data to establish a baseline for our patient populations and what it means to offer integrative care from a community clinic standpoint. I am also currently associated with the U of M Masonic Children’s Hospitals’ integrative care committee and have been working with this group on various acupuncture demos and informational events to help educate both staff and families alike.
I joined the AOMAM state association as a student and during my last term on campus I applied and was elected to the Board of Directors and will soon be involved as the Chair of the Membership Committee.
Thank you for the opportunity and experience the scholarship has provided.
Submitted by Valerie Overby, voverby@nwhealth.edu
Days to Remember
- February 1-28 African American History Month
- February 2 Groundhog's Day and Imbolc
- February 3- 4 sunset to sunset Tu B'shvat
- February 4 World Cancer Day
- February 12 Darwin Day
- February 14 Valentine's Day
- February 8 or 15 Nirvana Day in celebration of the death of Buddha
- February 9-15 Random Acts of Kindness Week
- February 16 President's Day
- February 17 Maha Shivaratri
- February 17 Mardi Gras
- February 18 Orthodox and Western Christianity Ash Wednesday
- February 19-21 Losar - Tibetan Buddhist New Year
- February 19- March 5 Chinese New Year
- February 26 - March 1 Intercalary Days for Baha'i Ayyam-i-Ha
Sickle Cell Disease & Blood Donation
Sickle cell anemia is a recessive trait that affects the placement of an amino acid on hemoglobin. This mutation changes the shape of hemoglobin and red blood cells, effectively reducing the red blood cell function and life span from 120 days to 90 days. The sickled cells clog up small arteries and cause pain in several regions of the body.
The National Institutes of Health states that are 70,000-100,000 people living with sickle cell disease in the United States. It is not strictly in African American populations either – 36,000 Hispanics also have the disease. Worldwide, over 300,000 babies are born with a hemoglobin disorder, like sickle cell or thalassemia. These populations, among many, have a clear disparity in health care.
A recent NWHSU Office of Faculty Development lecture by Dr. Stephen Nelson from Children’s Hospitals & Clinics of Minnesota explained that many sickle cell disease patients are not believed by their providers about the pain they experience and that funding and research are low relative to other disorders. Blood transfusion is one of the treatments among many for this disease. Recently we had a blood drive at Northwestern. Thank you for participating. Every little bit counts and it is wonderful that we are doing our part.
You might be saying to yourself, how can I help? Who can and cannot donate blood? According to the American Red Cross, “blood donors must be in good health and feeling well; be at least 17-years-old in most states; and weigh at least 110 pounds.” Some populations cannot donate, and one of those is men who have sex with men. There is recent news about this specific donation ban. The Food and Drug Administration explain their position here, explaining that men who have sex with men have a greater risk of contracting hepatitis, HIV, and other infections than most other populations. After a lot of pressure from many groups, the New York Times reported that the FDA will now limit blood donation from men who have had sex with men in the last year, increasing the supply by 2%.
Any way we can increase the blood supply is a step in the direction toward helping patients. You can contact the American Red Cross, Memorial Blood Centers, or the Mayo Clinic for more information on blood donation. Plasma donation information can be found at the Mayo Clinic as well.
Submitted by Alejandra Dashe, adashe@nwhealth.edu
Topics in Diversity: Language Police
I was at a recent talk where an educator and advocate was telling us about the services her organization offers and the people they are able to serve. During her talk there was a hot button word that she used, and it felt like a stigmatizing word. I got pretty uncomfortable and felt myself incapable of keeping my interjection to myself. So I raised my hand and asked why she was using this particular word. Tacky. It could have waited until she was not in front of all of those people.
She obviously cares about the clients her organization serves.
Advocates are under fire every single time they open their mouths. Bad diversity work is schooling someone in front of a crowd. Good diversity work is cleaning up expectations and personal feelings in a more respectable, private manner. Great diversity work is allowing the advocate to be exactly where they are in the process of being in the entirety of their work.
The crossing up of safe space language is normal. The phrase safe space implies that if a participant does not use safe space language someone will let them know. Usually the "correction" goes down like I did it with that unsuspecting woman. Suddenly the safe space becomes a fear space where everyone is afraid to explore the limits of their exposure to new information because if we get the language wrong, we will be publicly shamed. Wow. I have spent years having these conversations and have been freely outspoken whenever I felt it was required. Translation: I have not been nice to people when they don't get it right the first time.
I want to be part of the greater solution and not part of the greater problem. These days it seems like I can maybe give my responsibilities as the uniformed language police a rest. Maybe I can be one of those undercover officers. Maybe I can be more compassionate toward organizations that are doing good things in the world. Maybe I can be kinder to the messenger and to myself when I get it wrong.
Submitted by Beau Foshee, wfoshee@nwhealth.edu
Random Acts of Kindness (RAK)
If you see something, say something.
Please email Sara Cooper, scooper@nwhealth.edu, to nominate someone and make their day.
Community Engagement
We are headed to the Science Museum of Minnesota to present our programs at Science Fusion: Asian Americans & Science on Feb 14. Our team of students, faculty, and staff will be showing off crania, spines, needling, muscles, and STEM education in the 21st century.
On Feb 20 and 27, Girls in Action, an organization that mentors and empowers girls in grades 9-12 with the tools they need to go to college, will bring over 115 girls to see our university. On May 7, we will be joining them for their annual I Am luncheon at the Nicollet Island Inn.
Do you speak Spanish and love NWHSU? We need you! We will be participating in the Minneapolis Public Schools Health Resources Fair for Latino Students at Roosevelt High School on Feb 26. Students in grades 9-12 will tour the booths to learn about local STEM education opportunities. Please contact diversity@nwhealth.edu for more information.
The Office of Diversity & Inclusion is looking for health care shadowing opportunities with professionals who work with populations that have documented health care disparities.
For all outreach events, please share your interest and opportunities with diversity@nwhealth.edu.
Submitted by Alejandra Dashe, adashe@nwhealth.edu
Upcoming Events
Pennies for Patients
This is scheduled around World Cancer Day on February 4.
email Michele Speranza, msperanza@nwhealth.edu, with questions
Sunday, Feb 1, 2015, 12:00 AM
Look for us!!!
Poutine Day - Save the Date!
Monday, Mar 2, 2015, 12:00 PM
Foyer
Get Involved with Diversity & Inclusion
- Take training! See "Learning and Training Opportunities" below. Most trainings are free or low cost and can get you CEUs.
- Take the Dignity & Respect pledge.
- Join one of our cultural clubs.
- Want to write for From the Desk of Diversity? Book Club book suggestion? Engaging diversity activity idea? Contact Dr. Dashe, Beau Foshee, or Celia Peters.
Learning & Training Opportunities
- Lunar New Year, sponsored by NWHSU and AOMAM on Feb 28 11am-4pm.
- A Physician's Practical Guide to Culturally Competent Care
- Health Resources and Services Administration: Effective Communication Tools for Healthcare Professionals 100
- Immigrant and Refugee Health Online Course by the U of M Medical School Department of Global Health (and other opportunities)
- YWCA of Minneapolis Racial Justice Workshops & Events
- Rainbow Health Initiative Trainings & Presentations
- Minnesota AIDS Project
Office of Diversity & Inclusion
Email: diversity@nwhealth.edu
Website: http://nwhealth.edu/diversity/
Location: Northwestern Health Sciences, West 84th Street, Bloomington, MN, United States
Phone: 952-888-4777 235
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Northwestern-Diversity-Inclusion/678001138890536
Twitter: @NWHSU_Diversity
Senior Editor
Director, Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Assistant Professor, College of Undergraduate Health Sciences
Email: adashe@nwhealth.edu
Website: http://www.nwhealth.edu/undergraduate-studies/faculty-directory/estrindashealejandra/
Editor
Student, College of Chiropractic
Email: wfoshee@nwhealth.edu
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/beau-foshee/a/58b/493
Assistant Editor
Student, College of Chiropractic
Diversity Scholar
Email: cpeters@nwhealth.edu
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/celia-peters/9b/b28/b74