“它会帮助别人”
A tragedy and his children motivate 泰勒惠勒 to help high schoolers in McCall
As a Boy Scout leader in Southern Idaho, 泰勒惠勒 never expected to have one of his scouts commit suicide.
“这很难看到，”他说. “He wrote a friend a note saying, ‘Hey, thanks for being my friend.’ He went home and committed suicide.”
Wheeler said the experience influenced the focus of his rural health project as a medical student in the 365滚球官网’s WWAMI医学教育计划. Wheeler is working with community leaders in McCall to implement a suicide prevention program.
“A program like this isn’t going to save everyone, but it’s going to help someone recognize a cry for help,他说.
Wheeler became interested in rural health after growing up in Rupert, and feels small towns provide a more a stable environment.
“The stability is important because I have four children,他说. “我必须做出牺牲. I have more commitments and obligations than most students do.”
在考尔, Wheeler started to gather project ideas by meeting with the community and looking at demographic reviews. He compared the surrounding counties using community health assessment plans, which measure things like accident prevention, 滥用药物和自杀.
最后一项测量使他震惊.
“这个想法是, the program will be integrated into a health class where there would be a few sessions throughout the year and you talk about things like depression and signs of suicide and role-play with peers,他说.
In collaborating with the community, Wheeler gained partners like the Valley-Adams 健康 Improvement Coalition, 哪一个有联邦拨款支持. The local high school is on board.
“The program focuses on empowering youth to be able to help their friends, versus a gatekeeper program where teachers are trained to recognize these signs in kids,他说.
“If you can empower others around you, I think more will happen.”
Wheeler said focusing on this subject has motivated him as a parent.
“Those experiences I’ve had help me want to develop relationship with my kids and be the kind of parent that they’re willing to come to talk about their struggles,他说.
WWAMI is a partnership between the University of Washington School of Medicine and five Western states — Washington, 怀俄明, 阿拉斯加, 蒙大拿和爱达荷. 在爱达荷州, 40 medical students complete their first and second year of medical training on the Palouse. The students then have the opportunity to complete their Clinical Phase and 探索 & Focus Phase of medical education in Idaho, Seattle or across the five-state WWAMI region.
The Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program (RUOP) is a four-week immersion experience in community medicine for students in between year one and two of medical school. The students live in underserved rural or urban communities during a four-week rotation, 与当地医生合作. The Target Rural Underserved Track (TRUST) builds on this experience with student completing community health projects within their RUOP communities.
2018年3月出版
Article by Tess Fox, University Communications & 市场营销.