Students from schools of law, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy participated.
Six University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) students participated as a team in the 2022 DC Public Health Case Challenge and brought home the Wildcard prize.
The six students are:
- Mostafa "Mo" Abu-Hijlih, School of Nursing (Doctor of Nursing Practice Adult-Gerontology Primary Care specialty)
- Belen Avelar, School of Medicine
- Rebecca Faulkner, School of Pharmacy
- Marcus Jones, School of Law (JD program)
- Hanna LeBuhn, School of Medicine (Master of Public Health program)
- Emily Ly, School of Pharmacy
The DC Public Health Case Challenge, an initiative of the National Academy of Medicine, aims to promote interdisciplinary, problem-based learning around a public health issue that faces the local Washington, D.C., community. Universities in the area form teams consisting of five to six members from at least three disciplines. Teams are given a case, written by students from the participating universities, that provides background information on a local public health problem. Teams have a limited amount of time to devise a comprehensive intervention, which they present to an expert panel of judges. Teams are judged on the interdisciplinary nature of their response, feasibility of implementation, creativity, and practicality.
This year's case was "Protective Community Environments and their Contribution to Intimate Partner Violence Prevention: The Role of Youth." The team presented their solution, "#UnderstandTheCYCLE of Intimate Partner Violence in DC: A School-Based, Youth-Centered Approach."
The Wildcard prize is awarded to a team that demonstrates feasibility in their approach, a high likelihood of successful implementation, and true community engagement and interaction. "We hoped to have incentivized local stakeholders to take action within the Washington, D.C., youth community," Abu-Hijlih said.
Congratulations to these UMB students!
photo: l. to r.: Abu-Hijlih, LeBuhn, Avelar, and Jones in front of a statue of Albert Einstein outside the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C.