Two UIC Nursing students named Schweitzer Fellows
Two nursing students at UIC have been awarded Schweitzer fellowships, a service learning program for health professional students committed to helping Chicago's underserved.
The students will each design and implement year-long projects to improve health and access to care. Named in honor of humanitarian and Nobel laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the fellowship encourages exceptional students in health and human service fields to serve the most vulnerable members of society, including the uninsured, immigrants, the homeless, returning veterans, minorities and the working poor.
The two UIC Nursing award winners will each receive a $2,500 honorarium and perform 200 hours of direct service in a community setting during their year-long project.
Alexandra Johnson, a master's student, will partner with Heartland Alliance to initiate a health-promotion program for low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The program will use hypertension screening and education to help Heartland Alliance clients make healthy choices and develop healthy lifestyles.
Erin Wright, also earning her master's degree, will design and implement a STEM-exploration and health-education program for middle school aged youth in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood. The curriculum will focus on opportunities for team-learning and exploration in science, technology, engineering and math, and age-relevant health and wellness information.
The Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellowship Program is one of 14 nationwide, and is wholly administered by Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, a Chicago-based non-profit working to improve the health of all people in Illinois by promoting health equity. The two nursing students, as well as seven other UIC students granted Schweitzer fellowships this year, join a network of more than 550 Chicago program alumni who have provided some 110,000 hours of community service to more than 150 community groups over the course of the program's 22-year history.