Lawndale SMP FAQ

June 29 - July 29, 2005

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ'S):
Q: What is the LSMP? A: The LSMP is a door-to-door outreach project targeting the health and safety of children residing in North Lawndale, East and West Garfield. Q: Why is the LSMP focusing on children in west-urban Chicago? A: According to health statistics from the CDPH, approximately 1/3 of all North Lawndale Children are lead poisoned. The LSMP is part of a larger strategy being implemented by Lawndale Christian Health Center, seeking to eliminate the harmful effects of lead toxicity among children, and emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion within this age group. Q: What are the demographics of the Lawndale/Garfield area? A: Go to http://www.lawndale.org/Mission/default.htm for a good summary of the North Lawndale community. Q: What are the participant objectives of the LSMP? A: The Lawndale Summer Medical Project pursues four distinct objectives:

The LSMP is a preventative medicine elective that gives rising 1st and 2nd year health professions students the clinical opportunity to work alongside and learn from Christian physicians of various specialties who work with the poor.
The LSMP is a cross-cultural immersion experience which provides students first-hand exposure and an enriched understanding of urban culture in North America, as well as a better understanding of their own world-view.
The LSMP utilizes the laboratory of the community, by which student participants can observe real barriers for people who are poor and without adequate access to healthcare, while challenging students to consider means by which these problems might be remedied.
The LSMP is a faith-based project environment designed to provide participants with training in leadership, evangelism, discipleship, and mentoring.

Q: When is the LSMP? A: LSMP is a 4-week project, beginning on June 30, 2004 and ending on July 30, 2004. The first week begins on a Wednesday, and involves 3 days of orientation and training in anticipation of 4 complete weeks in the neighborhoods and seeing patients in the clinic. Q: How much does it cost? A: Project tuition is $350.00, which includes housing and weekday meals. There is also a $25 application fee.
Q: Who participates in the LSMP? A: We are currently accepting applications from 1^st and 2^nd year medical & dental students, as well as junior or senior pre-med, dental, and nursing students. We will also be employing high-school students from the community as guides for the teams on the streets each day. Our target numbers are 8-12 medical students and 4-6 high school students. Q: Who are the younger students in your pictures, and what do they do? A: Our primary work is in the North Lawndale community, which is predominantly African American. We work with high school students through Breakthrough Ministries. The high-school students serve as community guides for medical student teams surveying in the community. These older kids live in the neighborhood and attend any of several sponsoring churches around Lawndale. Their participation with us meets a school requirement for community service during their high school years, but we recognize an equally valid part of our ministry during the LSMP to mentor these future professionals as they lend assistance to our student teams. Q: Can you give me specifics about a typical day? A: Most weekday mornings will consist of either scheduled small-group time or didactic seminars, with one morning per week dedicated to shadowing a Lawndale clinician. Mid-day to late afternoon we will be working in various neighborhoods on the streets, canvassing homes in various neighborhoods. The work will include conducting visual and documentary analysis of homes to discern risk for lead exposure among household members below age 7. Parents will be encouraged to have their <7 aged children screened for blood lead levels. We are also looking for gaps in pediatric immunization schedules, and offering those with discernable gaps the immediate opportunity to walk directly to an adjacent mobile site. A phlebotomist will be with us to perform blood tests everyday on the streets. Evenings will have much more limited schedule, with allowance for personal reflection and unstructured group fellowship. Saturdays are generally free, and Sundays we will participate in worship and Bible study with the Lawndale Community Church community. Q: Where will we live during the month? A: Project participants live "on-site" for the entire 4 weeks of the project. Students are housed in gender-specific groups of 4-6 persons per unit, living in furnished apartments within walking distance of the Lawndale Community Church and Christian Health Center, Ogden Avenue campus. Housing will be clean, safe, and suitable for building affinity within the community where we work, while also fostering relationships within the student team. Q: What kind of patient contact will we have during the LSMP? A: As a participant, you will be in direct contact with family members in these neighborhoods through a 4-week strategic community health outreach. You will take part in an ongoing study of lead-toxicity and screening for lead in children, as well as family health risk assessments and administration of pediatric immunizations.

You will also have the opportunity each week to learn alongside mentor doctors who work at the Lawndale Christian Health Center, and build insights into what it means to be a Christian serving the poor as a health care provider. In other words, plenty!