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Students participating in Legislative Day

Future Medicine Students Advocate on Legislative Day

Physicians who understand the impact of social determinants of health are better equipped to serve their patients, as a group of students learned from a public health practicum.

It’s not easy to squeeze a summer’s worth of learning onto a poster. But a future class of NEOMED physicians did their best for a recent event at NEOMED – one where they presented legislators with their ideas on public health issues.

Students in their second college year of the BS/MD program at the University of Akron, Kent State University and Youngstown State University had all taken the Summer Practicum in Public Health. During the practicum, the students researched how social determinants of health play a role in how people are affected by critical issues such as infant mortality, food insecurity and gun safety.

But the students didn’t just research. They also looked for ways to take action. They wrote white papers and created policy briefs. And on July 20, they met with elected officials who came to NEOMED to hear their ideas.

The following officials met with students at NEOMED on Legislative Day:

Portage County Commissioner Vicki Kline; State Sen. John Eklund (NEOMED’S State Senator); District Representative Jordan Pennell, from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office; and Catey Breck Colon, economic development coordinator from Congressman Tim Ryan’s office.