Haiti

Driving Professionalism, Engaging Students

Worth A Shot is working with UDH Health Coach to educate and empower the next generation of Haitian and Haitian-American medical students. Our program aims to strengthen Haiti’s public health system and support new healthcare practitioners. Our online sessions engage UDH mentors (healthcare professionals) with Haitian medical students. we train the next generation of medical professionals so they can utilize their talent to improve the level of medical care provided in Haiti while strengthening their professional identity.

We are a bilingual, multidisciplinary effort. Our sessions are held both in English and French and are aimed at educating and empowering the next generation of Haitian medical students, helping them to build their sense of professional identity, working with them improve their clinical skills, and providing them the opportunity to work with others in a professional environment while receiving constructive feedback that enables them to constantly adapt their mindset to the current situation.

Our students report increased self-confidence in providing their input on clinical cases and giving others feedback. “Here everyone dares and gets involved,” wrote one student. “It’s a great source of inspiration. Presentations are like pieces of a puzzle that fit together perfectly.” In terms of clinical and scientific skills, students described the program being immensely helpful in gaining more insight into the life of a practicing healthcare professional. According to a participating medical student, “The program allowed me to reach my personal objectives and especially to learn scientific notions useful in the everyday practice of the health professional.”

The Lyna Jean-Baptiste Foundation

Worth A Shot collaborates with the Lyna Jean-Baptiste Foundation to provide unique opportunities to Haitian health trainees. Through our collaboration, students are invited to stay in Boston for observerships at Cambridge Health Alliance and are also mentored as they complete and present research projects. Students moving to the United States or abroad are mentored by physicians like them who already went through the process.

Student Akanksha Sharma Presents UDH Research at Conference

UDH Student Akanksha Sharma, who was mentored by UDH Staff to conduct research on the efficacy of the program in improving students' professionalism, presented at the Annual Women in Medicine International Conference at the Suquamish Clearwater Casino and Resort in Washington State. We congratulate Akanksha for all her hard work!

UDH Health Coach 2024

We're excited to welcome a new group of students and are working with them on CV and resume building, personal statement writing, and preparing for interviews. We gave students the opportunity to attend our annual Youth Global Health and Innovation Conference and learn from the expert speakers. In addition, we're engaging them in research opportunities to share, present, and eventually publish their work

Cooking Across Cultures

We're partnering with Cambridge Health Alliance and UDH Health Coach to organize free cooking classes for CHA patients. Classes are currently conducted in English, Haitian Creole, French, and Spanish, and our goal is to encourage patients to make foods from their own culture that are healthy, nutritious, and, most importantly, that taste delicious! We currently have 10 participants enrolled and are growing! UDH students are also conducting research on the effectiveness of this intervention using a mixed-methods approach.