Greetings!
MCN's monthly e-Newsletter, Network News, provides you with news and resources available from MCN and our partners. We welcome your feedback and/or suggestions for content. Please email Jillian Hopewell with your comments. |
Migrant Clinicians Network wishes you a warm and welcoming International Migrants Day!
On International Migrants Day perhaps the most important message we can communicate to the many migrants in our communities is "You are Welcome Here". If you would like to signal that yours is a welcoming business, social setting or place of worship, download one of MCN's window posters and signal to the migrants in your midst, you are welcome here.
|
Clinician Orientation to Migration Health
A series of 7 webinars
Migrant Clinicians Network has designed a series of seven webinars for new as well as seasoned clinicians who are interested in understanding more about the migrant population. The orientation will cover a wide breadth of knowledge and skills to help clinicians provide quality care to one of the most difficult to reach populations in the United States.
Each module consists of a 1-hour webinar presented by experts in the field of migration health. Accompanying the webinars are topic-specific handouts as well as links and resources for those who want even more in-depth information about the topic. Each presenter has many years of experience in migration health and brings the very best in cutting-edge skills and knowledge to this effort. Emphasis is placed on practical solutions to the difficulties that arise at the intersection of migration, poverty and health.
 Each module is accredited for an hour of Continuing Nursing or Continuing Medical Education. If you register for the entire series you will receive 7 full hours of free continuing education. Complete all 7 modules and you will receive a Certificate of Expertise in Migration Health.
View more information on all seven webinars in the Clinician Orientation to Migration Health.
|
Juntos Nurses Recognition
In recent years Cuidad Juarez, located on the U.S.-Mexico border across from El Paso, TX has become one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico. The city has been plagued by poverty and violence, and is a site for drug smuggling and gang warfare. In spite of the overt danger in Cuidad Juarez, there are still those remarkable individuals who knowingly put themselves at risk to help others in need. Three such individuals were honored at a recent tuberculosis (TB) conference in El Paso, TX.
Gloria Cardenas and Maria Francisca Flores (Miny) are nurses who work for the binational TB program called Juntos. These two women travel between El Paso, TX and Cuidad Juarez on a daily basis to provide directly observed therapy (DOT) for TB patients in some of the poorest areas of the region. In the process they regularly put themselves in direct danger and have been caught in the middle of gun battles on several occasions. They were recognized at the conference for their commitment, dedication and efforts toward TB control and prevention among the border population.
An additional special recognition was given to Martha Salas, a former public health nurse who worked for several years with TB patients at one of the poorest Juarez health centers until she became infected with multidrug resistant TB. Through her perseverance, adherence to treatment and the love for life, she finished a two-year course of MDR treatment which left her with severe hearing loss. But in spite of the difficulties she has faced she gave a moving testimony in which she thanked the Juntos nurses for being at her side every day. Martha Salas serves as a source of inspiration for people infected with TB and a credit to public health nurses everywhere.
 | |
Gloria Cardenas, Martha Salas and Maria Francisca Flores (Miny)
|
|
New Resource to Help Recruit Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers as Board Members
One of the hallmarks of the Federally Qualified Health Centers nationwide is the consumer board requirement which states that every health center must be governed by a community board composed of a majority (51% or more) of health center patients who represent the population served. The health and well-being of the migrant and community health center ultimately lies with the board of directors of the corporation. For health centers that receive migrant health funding, it is critical to have farmworker consumer representation on the board.  Clinicians, as the first line of contact with many patients, are excellent sources for identifying interested and competent consumers that would be good candidates for the board of directors. Migrant Clinicians Network and Migrant Health Promotion recommend the following strategies for increasing clinician involvement in consumer board member recruitment. |
A Letter from MCN Intern Kevin Soto
 | |
MCN Intern, Kevin Soto
|
Greetings supporters and staff at MCN! My name is Kevin Soto,the current intern at the main office in Austin, TX---- I hope that this meets you all in good health and seasonal cheer. It seems just like yesterday when I started my internship and now it is nearing its end, as time always flies by when you are enjoying yourself. As a current junior in the School of Social Work at The University of Texas-Austin I am working to translate my passion for social justice and human rights into a fulfilling career. My dedication to work for those in need led me to reply to a job posting from MCN---- I had little hopes since I had never worked in the field, but to my surprise I was offered this internship. I have been very grateful for the opportunity that was bestowed to me and for that I am thankful. I now have another stepping stone towards my path for attaining the goals that I want to meet.
I am now more zealous than ever before to strive for my hopes of one day becoming a successful social entrepreneur and advocating for those who have forgotten what it feels like to have dreams and hopes of a brighter future. These past four months I have gotten to work and know many of the staff members who toil day in and day out to meet the needs of those who desperately need it. I am taking with me fond memories and important skills that I did not have before and will be able to apply them towards my future ventures. I would like to thank those who gave me the knowledge and I look forward to staying in touch with my fellow "MCNers." I am eager to see what is next for MCN and hope that the organization and its staff will continue to have many more great achievements.
Best,
Kevin Soto
|
|
|
|
Certificate of Best Practices for IRB
|
Congratulations to MCN's own
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
for receiving a Certificate of Merit for Best Practices from the Health Improvement Institute! This was awarded to the MCN IRB due to its no-cost research protocol review practice, specializing in vulnerable populations, particularly migrant workers. The MCN IRB is composed of seven highly experience members who have extensive knowledge and experience with this population.
Please visit migrantclinician.org/services/research/institutional-review-board.html for information on how to submit a research protocol to the MCN IRB for review at no cost.
|
|
Health Network
Health Network is a program to establish continuity of care for mobile patients. We are scheduling Health Network enrollment trainings. If you are interested in this free program please contact Ricardo Garay at (512) 579-4508 or rgaray@migrantclinician.org.
|
|
A special thank you:
Spanish translation by
Ricardo Garay and reviewed by Alejandro Ahuja.
|
|
|
