UW Professor Promotes Better Communities
Sarena Seifer peddles community glue.
Sticking together, Seifer says, is the best way for people to make their city a better place to live.
“Creating Healthier Communities Through Mutual Partnerships” is the theme of a talk the University of Washington assistant professor will give Wednesday at Sacred Heart Medical Center’s Providence Auditorium.
Seifer is the keynote speaker at a day-long event designed to energize Spokane residents and get them to contribute to building a healthier community. Seifer’s presentation is sponsored by Medical Service Corp. of Eastern Washington.
The free event is called “Creating A Connected Community.” In addition to Seifer’s speech, the day will feature three workshops and a talk by Spokane Mayor Jack Geraghty.
Seifer is part of UW’s Department of Medical Education. She’s also director of Health Professions Schools in Service to the Nation, an organization responsible for distributing more than $2 million for cooperative projects between medical, dental, nursing and pharmacology schools and community service agencies around the country.
Last spring the organization distributed 20 grants to fund these partnership projects. Financing comes from the federal government and the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Seifer’s interest in community health developed while she went to medical school at Georgetown University. At the time, she also volunteered for a free clinic located in the basement of a large urban church. The clinic primarily served immigrants and homeless people.
“That was a humbling experience,” she says. “So often medical students think they know everything.”
Seifer says schools should pursue community partnerships because of a gap between classroom teaching and medical practice. “There’s so much that can be learned from training in a community setting,” she says. Partnership projects educate students about the plethora of social and cultural issues involved in public health care.
Partnerships are also important because community agencies can expand their services. But, Seifer says, “sometimes it just comes down to the agency feeling like it has something to contribute to teaching and learning.”
Seifer also sits on the board of directors of the Puget Sound Neighborhood Health Centers, a nonprofit community health center.
On Wednesday, Seifer will talk about the significance of drawing from a community’s strengths instead of focusing on what needs to be fixed. “There’s a lot that we can do as neighbors and citizens to improve community health,” she says.
If you want to attend “Creating A Connected Community,” call 482-2557.
, DataTimes MEMO: Created in support of the Spokane County Health Improvement Partnership (H.I.P.), Discoveries highlight people working to improve community health as well-being. If you have a discovery that deserves recognition, call Elana Ashanti Jefferson at 459-5419. To get involved with H.I.P., call 482-2557.