About NCNS
Nuestra Comunidad, Nuestra Salud is Spanish for Our Community, Our Health. It was chosen as the title for the NCNS Rural Health Training Grant to represent the collaboration between the health sciences programs at The University of Arizona and the social work program at Arizona State University and the community of Nogales, Arizona, to train health sciences students to practice in rural communities. The Spanish title acknowledges the Mexican heritage of Nogales and its location on the border between Arizona and Mexico.
Rural communities are known for their individuality, so students must combine book learning with experience in the community to become effective healthcare practitioners. In Nogales, students:
- Form interdisciplinary teams with students from pharmacy, nursing, medicine, nutrition, and public health at The University of Arizona and students from the social work program at Arizona State University.
- Work with promotoras (lay health educators) from Mariposa Community Health Center to provide case management services related to improving lifestyle and preventing diabetes.
- Work with the Southeast Arizona Health Education Center, SEAHEC, to help the community identify health issues and to develop programs to address the issues.
- Work with community professionals and university faculty to research health issues that are important to the community.
Faculty
Faculty associated with the training experience include faculty from The University of Arizona and Arizona State University.
From The University of Arizona:
- Marion K. Slack, PhD, principal investigator, from the College of Pharmacy
- Marylyn M. McEwen, PhD, co-principal investigator, from the College of Nursing
- Carol W. Galper, EdD, from the College of Medicine
- Jill deZapien, BS, from the College of Public Health
- Kelly Jackson, MS, from the Department of Nutrition
From Arizona State University:
- Josefina Ahumada, MSW, from the Tucson component of the School of Social Work
Funding
The project was originally funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, Quentin N. Burdick Rural Program for Interdisciplinary Training in 1994 and funding has been renewed every three years since.The Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science at The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy received its most recent 3-year funding of $827,295 in 2003.
The Quentin N. Burdick Rural Program for Interdisciplinary Training supports innovative training to prepare health-care professionals to work in rural communities.
Grant Facts:
No. 2D36 HP10033-10
Principal Investigator Marion K. Slack, PhD
Nuestra Comunidad, Nuestra Salud Office
University of Arizona College of Pharmacy
P.O. Box 210207
Tucson AZ 85721-0207
Ph:(520)626-4949
Fax:(520)626-7355
E-mail: jvalcour@pharmacy.arizona.edu