Simulations Summary
Participants will engage in several different simulations involving Refugee Health. These simulations are designed with specific learning objectives in mind to further the participant’s knowledge of various maladies and situational decision-making skills. The central theme designed into the simulations focuses on events that occur following disasters or conflicts that displace refugees. Scenarios may take place in the setting of a refugee camp overseas or in an outpatient clinic in the United States.
PTSD Simulation
Prior to flight, individuals who become refugees may face a wide variety of both physical and emotional trauma from mass casualties and destruction, violent acts perpetrated against themselves or loved ones, or sexual violence. Step inside the world of medical interviewing of refugees and be prepared to talk to your patient in a fully standardized clinical setting and evaluate their psychosocial status.
Cultural Barrier Simulation
The United States is a magnet for refugees from all over the world, presenting today’s physician with a diverse and nuanced patient population. Cultural barriers often pose difficult obstacles to providing sensitive and effective medical care. You will be asked to perform a health screening on a refugee whose cultural healers are her/his primary health care provider. How will you adapt?
Triage Simulation
Refugees may have traveled quite some distance to seek treatment and may present with advanced diseases or in need of acute critical care, so triage may mean the difference between life and death for some refugees. and engage in a fast-paced refugee triage environment. In this simulation, you will be thrown into a mobile hospital to triage a large number of patients. Join the State Medical Response Team and their fully-outfitted mobile hospital in learning the appropriate response and treatments to commonly seen diseases in the setting of a natural disaster.
Workshops Summary
You have the opportunity to experience 8 fantastic workshops that each address a different perspective in the multifaceted issue of refugee health. Hear from professionals with a diversity of backgrounds in refugee services to enrich your understanding of the past, present, and future of refugee health.
Human Trafficking: The Story of Modern Slavery
John Bersia
This workshop will be an interactive examination of the causes and challenges of 21st century slavery, also known as human trafficking. Join Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Bersia in tackling human trafficking from multiple perspectives: victim, abolitionist, government official, slave trader and consumer.
Know Your Neighbor: The Florida Refugee Experience
Hiram Ruiz
Where are Florida’s refugees coming from and where do they go? Have a conversation with Director of Florida Refugee Services regarding the Florida refugee profile: who, what, where, and how.
Storytelling: The Role of the Trauma Story in Refugee Healing
Christine Rothberg, LCSW
Mental health is a cornerstone of the refugee narrative that often goes overlooked. This workshop gives a basic practical framework to effectively treat refugee patients in the health care setting. The conversation takes participants through the steps to partner with interpreters to listen to a patient’s trauma story and provide actionable tactics for empowering the patient to begin healing.
Then and Now: Trends and Cultural Considerations in Domestic Refugee Health
Kelly A. Browne, MPA, MSW
This interactive presentation will review trends in refugee health outcomes, mental wellness, and the role that cultural competency plays in effective care for refugee populations by reviewing clinical screening tools & culturally appropriate health education materials, and discussing sample cases to explore strategies for ensuring adherence to treatment regimens in light of cultural beliefs.
Where Do I Even Start? Building a Refugee Camp and Hospital
Dr. Christina Mehriary, MD & Audrey Avila
As temporary settlements to house refugees in times of crisis, refugee camps are often overcrowded with thousands of refugees with high incidence rates of infection disease due to lack of infrastructure and planning – what measures can we take to improve these situations? In this workshop, you will learn how to build a fully operational refugee camp and hospital from the ground up in addition to acquiring skills on effectively mobilizing care during a humanitarian crisis.
From Global to Local: Sexual Health and Disease Prevention in Cross-Cultural Contexts
Dr. Janelle Menard, PhD & Carol Kolb deWilde
National medical education imperatives include the need to foster culturally competent clinical practitioners who will be prepared to provide care for ethnically diverse patient populations. In keeping with these directives, this workshop will provide participants with a greater understanding of social and cultural complexities that impact sexual health behaviors, disease prevention and early detection. Case examples will serve as points of example and discussion, based upon the moderators’ fieldwork conducted in Tanzania for a sexually transmitted infection control intervention, and in Florida among Haitian immigrants for cervical cancer prevention and control.
Navigating a Foreign Land: Facing the US Health Care System
Catholic Charities of Central Florida
After initial screenings and immunizations, refugees often do not know where to turn next for their future medical care. In addition to being thrown into a drastically different environment and culture after flight, what challenges do refugees face when trying to access health care?