Three OSU-COM students selected as inaugural Tulsa Schweitzer Fellows

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Three OSU-COM students have been selected as part of the inaugural class of Tulsa Albert Schweitzer Fellows. First-year students Shannon McBeath, Tim Nissen and Michael Sutton have been chosen to spend the next year learning to effectively address social factors that impact health and developing lifelong leadership skills.

Schweitzer Fellows develop and implement service projects that address the root causes of health disparities in under-resourced communities while fulfilling their academic responsibilities. Each project is implemented in collaboration with a community-based health and/or social service organization. Fellows come from many academic disciplines – medicine, occupational therapy, social work, psychology and other allied health fields.

McBeath, in partnership with Total Source for Hearing-loss and Access, will develop and run a Deaf Teen Club that addresses isolationism among participants, as well increase self-esteem, community involvement, leadership and hope for the future.

Nissen is working with Eugene Field Elementary School and YMCA of Tulsa to bring OSU Center for Health Sciences into fourth- and fifth-grade Tulsa Public Schools after-school programs to teach health literacy through weekly lessons in math, language arts, science and physical education using a curriculum developed by the Harvard School of Public Health, Eat Well and Keep Moving.

Sutton has partnered with Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless to establish a medical education program focused on diabetes and tobacco addiction to provide education on disease management and prevention and provide an outlet for the clients to discuss and address their challenges and obstacles.

Eleven graduate students from The University of Tulsa, OSU-Tulsa, OSU Center for Health Sciences and the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa were selected for the program, named for famed physician-humanitarian Albert Schweitzer.

Schweitzer Fellowships have an intensive leadership component, so that Fellows can go on to inspire others to improve the health of those who experience barriers to care. Fellows work under the close guidance of community and academic mentors during their fellowship year.

The 11 Tulsa Fellows will join approximately 240 other 2016-17 Schweitzer Fellows working at program sites around the United States, as well as one in Lambaréné, Gabon, at the site of The Albert Schweitzer Hospital, founded by Dr. Schweitzer in 1913. Upon completion of their Fellowship year, the 2016-17 Tulsa Schweitzer Fellows will become Schweitzer Fellows for Life and join a vibrant network of more than 3,200 Schweitzer alumni who are skilled in and committed to addressing the health needs of underserved people throughout their careers.

The Tulsa Schweitzer program is based at The University of Tulsa and also is supported by the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. The Tulsa chapter is ASF’s 14th U.S.-based program. The others are in Alabama; Boston; Chicago; Columbus-Athens, Ohio; Dallas-Fort Worth; Houston; Los Angeles; New Orleans; New Hampshire/Vermont; North Carolina; Pittsburgh; and San Francisco. Additionally, ASF also has a program chapter based in Lambaréné, Gabon, at The Albert Schweitzer Hospital.