FACES San Diego, home to three distinct school sites, has been very busy and has a lot in the works for the remainder of the school year. We welcomed a new coordinator for our Hoover High School site in January.  Nikki Lopez has been learning the program and getting oriented to both her new school site and the hospital. There’s a lot going on with the program as well, starting with all three sites engaging in the work of the Public Health Youth Corps (PHYC) by becoming advocates for good public health and COVID-19 prevention. Through PHYC, students facilitated conversations and presentations aimed at educating their friends, family and fellow community members. Further, each site will participate in a special skills clinic at the Association for Surgical Education Conference held in San Diego this year. Students are very excited to practice relevant skills and interact with surgeons who are in the top of their field. There are many more field trips planned, including to colleges in San Diego and Los Angeles. See below for additional school highlights.

FACES seniors at Crawford are currently involved in clinical rotations at Rady Children’s Hospital, where students are shadowing healthcare professionals in the Physical Therapy, NICU, and Integrative Medicine departments, as well as many more! And just recently, FACES students had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Stephanie Constantino with Family Health Center of San Diego during her Lunch with a Doctor series at school. They will have the opportunity to visit her clinic later this spring. Students were also treated to a visit from Ruby Dircio, class of 2018 alumni, who is now a registered nurse working in the oncology department at a nearby hospital. She was excited to reconnect with the FACES program and share a bit about her health career journey.

The Hoover FACES students are participating in various educational and hands on activities at school, Rady Children’s Hospital, and in their community. Some workshops held on campus include CPR and Basic Life Saving Skills, Stop the Bleed, and Narcan training. Additionally, there have been wellness workshops, holiday events, and educational workshops on topics such as HIPPA, professionalism, and healthy relationships. We’ve also had the opportunity to take our students to visit industry partners at Janssen. We are partnered with Planned Parenthood, Center for Community Solutions, ProKids, County of San Diego HIV Services, City Heights Farmers Market and Mid-City CAN to provide the juniors internship experiences doing meaningful work for their community and peers. In these internships, our students have created health campaigns, social media outreach, and advocated for their community needs. Lastly, for the first time since Covid-19 we have been able to take our seniors to Rady Children’s Hospital for clinical rotations. They have been able to shadow many departments, including NICU, Pain Management, OT/PT, Internal Medicine, Hematology/Oncology, and Neuroscience.

FACES seniors at Kearny recently completed their high school requirements and graduated from their program in January. In addition to engaging in FACES and Public Health Youth Corp work, students completed capstone projects detailing experiences in their Academy and are preparing to support a student conference taking place at their school this spring.

We salute all of our students as they continue on their path to fulfilling careers in health.

Highlights

This summer, we brought students back in person with the annual FACES Summer Medical Academy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted our traditionally in-person program to a virtual experience. While this pandemic is not over, we know students are itching for hands-on learning and connecting with peers. And so, with their safety as our top priority, we created a 2-week hybrid experience, consisting of both in-person and virtual learning.

• The Health Academy: Preparing to Manage Crisis as a Health Professional – In this hybrid experience, students had hands-on experience with a wide variety of critical health skills including taking vital signs and suturing. By the end of the week, they obtained 4 professional certifications: 
  • Mental Health First Aid
  • Basic Life Support
  • Opioid Overdose Intervention
  • Stop the Bleed

• Medical Mystery: Learning the Process of Diagnosis – Students spent a week solving the medical case of a 22 year old female suffering from undiagnosed medical and mental health conditions. Students solved her case by consulting with medical professionals including a psychiatrist, social worker, and physician. By deciphering clues on Elizabeth’s Instagram, email, and medical records – all four groups were able to solve her case and present a thorough treatment plan.

Students’ Experiences

Here’s what FSMA students had to say about their time with us!

“FSMA did an amazing job of creating a fun, productive, and engaging learning environment! I was able to meet new people and create new connections, both with my peers and in connecting to resources and the professionals we met. It was beyond enjoyable!”

“FSMA was incredibly hands-on and engaging. The workshops and trainings were well-selected and very informative. It truly included a variety of health care fields, allowing me to explore different interests in areas I had not thought about much before. The staff and guest speakers were very friendly, kind, and helpful.”

Photos

Dear Community-

 

I have always been proud of the fact that FACES is a “responsive” organization.  Our inception evolved in response to youth telling us they needed opportunities for career development and mentorship in healthcare.  We respond to community requests for support by partnering with them to develop FACES programs that meet the unique challenges of their youth. And we respond to the national imperative for building a healthcare workforce through the training and empowerment of young people who reflect the diversity of our communities.

 

The events of the past 18 months have not only magnified the importance of our work but have also tested and fortified our ability to respond to the constantly shifting needs of youth and communities caused by the pandemic.

 

The pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of building a robust, diverse health workforce that is able to effectively meet the complex medical, behavioral and public health needs of communities dealing with the ravages of a relentless pandemic along with historical health disparities.  Our efforts to prepare students for entry into the health professions is now more important than ever.

 

Moreover, while youth have continued to demonstrate extraordinary resiliency, adaptability and fortitude in the face of tremendous challenges created by the pandemic, they have also been uniquely impacted by the changes that have occurred.  The closures of schools, persistent social isolation from their peers, and the pervasive threat of the pandemic have all negatively impacted the emotional, mental and physical wellbeing of young people.

 

I am proud to share that FACES, true to form, responded to these events by ensuring that our mission and commitments to youth have continued in spite of the tremendous barriers created by the pandemic.  We continue to support youth training through innovation and enrichment of our programs. We continue to foster youth wellness through increased emphasis on student support and interventions. And we continue to build the pipeline into health careers through ongoing support of our alumni.

 

I look forward to sharing some recent highlights of our work and the remarkable young people we are blessed to work with. FACES is comprised of a community of very dedicated, remarkable individuals who care deeply about the mission of our work.  I am excited by the possibilities for growth that lie ahead and I hope that you will continue to support our efforts.

 

Sincerely,

 

Tomás A. Magaña, MD, MA, FAAP

Founding Director

 

Please consider a financial contribution to our program. 

Highlights

Shout out to FSMA class of 2021  for successfully completing the second-ever virtual FSMA. Despite the difficulties of Zoom fatigue, FSMA over Zoom had some unexpected advantages- such as participating from the comfort of home and meeting people from across the country. Here are some of the highlights from this year’s academy.

• Medical Mystery– students spent a week solving the medical case of a 22 year old female suffering from undiagnosed medical and mental health conditions. Students solved her case by consulting with medical professionals including a psychiatrist, a nurse practitioner, and a patient advocate. By deciphering clues on Elizabeth’s Instagram, email, and medical records- all three groups were able to solve her case and present a thorough treatment plan.

• Hands-on Skills- although FSMA was virtual this year students were still able to practice hands-on skills including CPR, taking vital signs, and suturing. Students were mailed kits including all necessary supplies, and worked with professionals over zoom to learn the basics of each of these skills- many even convinced family members to serve as practice patients!

 

• Mentorship- students were able to meet over 20 different professionals in the medical field including medical students, pediatric residents, pathologists, social workers, doctors, physician assistants, nurses, EMTs, and current medical school professors. 

Testimonials

“Through my participation in this program, I learned about how to receive and approach a patient’s case from many directions. I learned to ask good questions, look for the bigger picture, and keep patient information organized. I also learned a lot about the challenges that people face with housing, insurance, and treatment, especially immigrants who are undocumented. FSMA was a very valuable experience”.     -FSMA Student, Blocks 2 and 3

 

“I loved this program. I came in very nervous that I did not know enough to be here, yet soon understood that this is a kind learning environment. I loved the mentors and, even though it was over zoom, I felt that I really was able to connect with the administrators as well as my fellow students. All of the workshops were so interesting and I felt no inhibitions about speaking up to discuss my perspective or answer questions. I have already written down multiple emails of people that I plan to email with questions at different stages of my application process and am so grateful that FACES gave me the opportunity to connect with such people.”-FSMA Student, Block 2

 

“The presenters/guests were all very knowledgeable and have had experience in the field they were talking about. They were very kind, open, and generous with their knowledge, and hearing their own personal experiences in the medical field helped me personally on forwarding my education in medicine. It gave me insight into different professions and a wider outreach/network of people I can go to for assistance. Overall the program gave me connections/resources/information all very helpful in furthering my interests in becoming a doctor. I felt immersed in medicine and all the peers had similar interests diving into the medical field, this just proved to me that the medical field is where I would like to be.” -FSMA Student, Block 2