COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SCIENCES SCHOLARSHIP PORTFOLIO (2013)

Health Education The mission of the Health Education Department at San Francisco State University is to promote individual and community health, health equity and social justice in urban communities through community-based research, advocacy, and the preparation of public health leaders. We provide a participatory learning environment that integrates theory and practice, honors diversity, and fosters leadership, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication skills. The Department serves the University in three major ways: student learning, faculty scholarship and university and professional service. The faculty offer carefully designed and integrated curricula shaped to prepare the next generation of public health leaders. The Bachelors of Science (BS) and the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree programs in community health education serve more than 400 majors and graduate approximately 175 students each year. In addition, we offer a very popular minor in holistic health education. Along with many upper division courses that fulfill the residential GE 9-unit requirement, we have been leaders on campus in making the lower division GE more integrated, rigorous and supportive of students’ success through our efforts in the Metro Academies Initiative. In addition to being engaged teachers, department faculty are productive scholars and researchers. Funded faculty research brings substantial resources to the department. External funding constitutes about two million dollars per year, which result, in part, in faculty publications in numerous peer reviewed journals and academic books. Finally, faculty members from the department have been honored with numerous awards and appointments to national and statewide boards in the area of public health and complementary and alternative medicine. Student Honors Lobsang Marcia College of Health and Human Services Hood Recipient Born and raised by his grandmother in Nicaragua, Lobsang had no English language skills when he came to the United States in 2006 to reunite with his mother. Despite this limitation, he obtained his high school equivalency and completed a Job Corps medical assistant program within two years. This led to a job working with uninsured HIV patients at San Francisco General Hospital, which inspired him to pursue a college education so he could continue to help others. Since transferring to San Francisco State from City College, Lobsang has earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in addition to being an officer of the Health Education Student Association, a peer mentor advisor, and a teaching assistant. He was also instrumental in organizing the very first campus-wide Public Health Summit in 2013. Outside of SF State, he is a research assistant for a major study assessing the risks for alcoholism and HIV among Latino migrant workers. He volunt eers at the Multicultural Institute in Berkeley to help day laborers learn English. Through his participation in the Leadership Education for Aspiring Physicians program at Stanford University, he is developing a protocol to assist day laborers with understanding, accessing, and navigating San Francisco’s healthcare system. Lobsang has applied for a public policy fellowship with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C., and plans to continue his work to improve health conditions for vulnerable populations. Ultimately, he plans to be a physician to help underserved communities and address longstanding health inequities. 32

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