Community Engagement Activity Sends Health Science Undergraduates Across the Nation
Dr. Alvaro Gurovich, associate professor and director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, and a team of eight health sciences students representing the Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Sciences and the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program are heading to two major conferences this April to talk about their results from what he calls “unexpected results” from the group’s recent activities at Hornedo Middle School during National PhUn Week.
Based on their findings, which suggest a stastically significant difference between middle school-aged boys and girls on reaction time during multi-tasking, the group decided to submit an abstract for the upcoming National Conference of Undergraduate Research in Oklahoma and were accepted. The group was also invited to present at the American Physiological Society’s Experimental Biology Conference held later this month in San Diego, California. The group has received funding from the COURI Office of Undergraduate Research to support part of their travel and conference expenses. This summer, they will expand their work to include different age groups and schools within El Paso’s major school districts.
Although Dr. Gurovich’s appointment at UTEP affords him more opportunity to work with doctoral-level PT candidates, he has had past experience at other institutions implementing activities around PhUn Week, and mentioned that the UTEP undergraduates were much easier to work with. “They are very good students with a clear idea of where they want to go. They identify with the community – all of them are from El Paso. They had a desire to give back to their community,” he said.
One of the students, Juliana Ramirez, a Hornedo Middle School alum, mentioned how exciting it was to go back to the school and serve in a different role. “When I saw the students, I told them ‘I was in your seat at one point, and now I’m here in this role as a mentor.’ It’s something I wish I would have had at their age.” When asked what she would tell middle school and high school students thinking about pursuing a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation sciences, she said “It’s very challenging. You need to have dedication and discipline, but make sure that whatever it is that you want to do, do it with passion.”