Touro University California Joint MSPAS / MPH Program

COVID19 vaccinations History is in the making, and we are thankful and proud to see so many of our alumni receiving their first dose of the COVID19 vaccination. As frontline workers, their selfless service to the greater community is helping us all get through these tough times.

Student Spotlight Cameron Fisher, Class of 2022 Say hello to our PA-S2 President, Cameron! Cameron was born and raised in Redding and attended college at UCSB where he majored in biopsychology with a minor in philosophy while serving as the first full-term president of UCSB’s Pre-Physician Assistant Association.... In undergrad, Cameron devoted much of his time to helping the local homeless population. As a student leader of Street Health Outreach, Cameron helped provide individuals with basic supplies, resources, and companionship. He was also a student chair for Showers of Blessing, providing the homeless with sanitary resources and bathing services. With Doctors Without Walls, Cameron worked as an outreach member doing street rounds to provide medical assistance, resources, and health education. Cameron’s work experience prior to PA school includes serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa and as a Surgical Technician at an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery office. At TUC, Cameron aided his cohort extensively as the Executive Board President for the Class of 2022. Outside of his busy PA school schedule, Cameron enjoys taking long walks on the beach, exploring national parks, bouldering, traveling, baking, and making bomb açaí bowls!

Please join@tourocalifornia's Interprofessional Collaboration for Diabetes Outreach (TUC ICDO) for a#WorldDiabetesDayEvent. It will be held this Friday, November 20 from 12:15pm to 12:45pm. Learn more about diabetes, what TUC's ICDO and the rest of Solano County are doing to tackle diabetes, and enjoy a quick diabetes trivia game for prizes! Zoom link: https://zoom.us//regi/tJAvcOqgqjgrEtzlYk7Sny_KyNufQiUEAtc5

Student Spotlight Michelle Truong, Class of 2021 Say hello to our third year Michelle! Michelle graduated from UCSD with her BS degree in Physiology and Neuroscience. Before PA school, she worked as an ER scribe and was a clinical assistant in a Pain Management office. However, one of her all-time favorite jobs was being a barista! As a former advocacy and involvement chair of 2018-2019, Michelle organized oral health education events as well as BP/blood glucose screenings ...for several local events in Vallejo. When she isn’t busy with school, Michelle enjoys hiking, reviewing foods, traveling, drops on New Music Fridays, and playing board games like Catan! Michelle knew she wanted to pursue a degree in PH after volunteering with Public Health Brigades in Honduras for 3 years. She spent time in Tanzania teaching English and helped build a school using a sustainable recycled infrastructure and an organization called Healing Hearts Across Borders in Tijuana. Currently, Michelle is on her Internal Medicine rotation which has a focus on Pulmonology. She passed her CPH exam in January and just finished her remote Global Health Field Study with the Ethiopian Midwives Association, which means she is now done with her MPH degree! During her Global Health Field Study, Michelle was a research assistant and analyzed quantitative data on associated abortion stigma among midwives in Ethiopia. She produced a poster presentation for the APHA annual meeting on the training of midwives in safe abortion care. Michelle looks forward to doing more global research in the future, particularly in underserved Asian communities.

Student Spotlight Mayanka Barath, Class of 2022 Mayanka completed her bachelor's degree at UC Davis in Biological Psychology with a minor in Human Physiology while she interned as a clinical research assistant in dermatology and later worked as an ER scribe and clinical research coordinator in psychiatry. She also volunteered with a rural development NGO doing public health projects in villages in India and went on clinic trips to Mexico with the Flying Samaritans. Serving ...in regions with limited healthcare services and health education motivated her to pursue the global public health track and she plans to augment her future practice with medical volunteerism abroad. At TUC, Mayanka is the Advocacy & Involvement Chair for the Class of 2022. This has given her the opportunity to organize the Mentor-Mentee program, promote the PA profession and program on various platforms, and help plan and execute PA Week 2019 & PA Week 2020 with the class VP. She is also a QueensCare Scholarship recipient committed to serving in underserved communities post-graduation and is interested in family practice, psychiatry, and critical care. As a future PA-C/MPH, Mayanka hopes to increase accessibility, affordability, and quality of care for underserved groups and promote mental health services and destigmatization.

PA WEEK 2020 GET YOUR FLU SHOT As the flu season overlaps with COVID-19, we must remember: Even though right now we are justly focused on the threat the COVID-19 pandemic poses to our health and our families health, we cannot lay down our weapons in the fight against other vaccine-preventable diseases. Immunizations currently prevent 2 to 3 million deaths every year around the world from vaccine-preventable diseases and flu vaccinations reduce the risk of flu illness by u...p to 40%-60% (CDC). Vaccines don’t just protect yourself. Help strengthen your local community by getting your flu shot! We all have a duty to each other to keep our immunizations up to date and to remind our friends and family to do the same. #VaccinationsAreEssential #PAweek2020 #PAsAreEssential #TUPAC #FluShot @tourocalifornia @aapaorg @capaspeaks

PA WEEK 2020 THANK A PA We would love to give thanks to our PA faculty who have made a great impact both at Touro and within our local community. Adapting to online learning has not only been challenging for students but also for faculty. Paul, Darcie, and Joy have had the challenge to balance online teaching in addition to continuing to serve in their communities. We thank you for your part in our journey to becoming future PAs! Your dedication and support have not gone unnoticed. Let’s recognize PAs and the essential work they do by saying Thank You!

PA WEEK 2020 Ask AAPA Experts Check out our PA-S2 students practicing their clinical skills including musculoskeletal, abdomen, and neurological examinations. Our students can utilize these clinical skills to determine appropriate assessments and treatment plans for their future patients! Learn more about the PA career by tuning into the AAPAorg instagram stories!... #PAWeek2020 #PAweek @aapaorg @tourocalifornia @capaspeaks

PA WEEK 2020 SHARE YOUR WHY PAs have uniquely acted to bridge the healthcare gap, increase access to care in both insured and uninsured groups, decrease wait times, and improve the overall quality and efficiency in patient care arenas by decreasing provider burden. PAs have also served in administrative and political roles, helping to enact change on local, regional, and national levels. As students pursuing a joint MPH, we will also be better equipped to identify envi...ronmental and socioeconomic determinants of health, and thus better equipped to help our future patients navigate the steps to lessen their disease burden, and ultimately improve health outcomes on a larger scale. Although we may all have different reasons as to why PA, we all share the common goal to advocate for our patients, aid and uplift our underserved communities, provide compassionate, high quality care, and improve outcomes on an individual and community level. #ShareYourWhy #PAWeek2020 @aapaorg @tourocalifornia @capaspeaks

PA WEEK 2020 PAs ARE ESSENTIAL PAs are advanced practice medical providers who examine, diagnose, and treat patients under the auspices of a supervising physician. Since the profession originated in 1965, it has continued to evolve and expand the PA scope of practice, with PAs now working in every specialtyspeciality and clinical setting. During the current pandemic, the PA workforce has worked tirelessly to fill clinical gaps on the front lines alongside doctors, nurs...es, and other healthcare workers, swiftly treating patients who are battling COVID-19 to prevent further complications. PAs continue to actively prioritize community health, educate on slowing the spread of COVID-19, assist with COVID testing, and comfort patients and family members through these unprecedented times. As PA students, we continue to dedicate ourselves to learning the didactic knowledge and clinical skills vital for treating our future patients while adapting to new virtual environments and precautions. Despite the hurdles of remote learning and changes to the landscape of rotations, TUC PA/MPH students are committed to delivering high quality, patient-centric care while identifying the disparities and crucial needs of our underserved communities. #PAsAreEssential #PAWeek2020 #TUPAC2023 #TUPAC2022 #TUPAC2021 @tourocalifornia @aapaorg @capaspeaks

PA-1 students out helping at the VCUSD Immunization Clinic

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Saul Plascencia, Class of 2022 Prior to starting PA school, Saul worked in Family Medicine, Allergy & Asthma, and as an EMT.He also volunteered at a free clinic in the Bay Area serving uninsured patients of predominantly Latino backgrounds. Conversing with Spanish-speaking patients showed him the value of connecting with his patients by creating trust and report through shared culture and language. ... As the Vice President for the c/o 2022 at TUC, Saul has organized events for the Teen Life Conference and PA Week to increase PA visibility while also connecting with the local community and fundraising to give back. Saul chose to pursue the PA profession due to both a passion for medicine and an eagerness to increase Latino representation in the medical field. As a first-generation college student, Saul hopes to create opportunities for future students from underserved backgrounds to pursue their goals.

A TUC-led study reveals a link between diabetes-related distress and incidents of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Clipper Young led the study, which began in Oakland and transitioned to Solano County. https://www.dailyrepublic.com//solano-base/comment-page-1/

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Natalie Ambriz, class of 2021 Hello everyone! My name is Natalie I am currently out on rotations and glad to be back after the long quarantine! My most recently completed rotation was for my masters of public health. I worked with Marin County as a COVID-19 case investigator and contact tracer. This rotation truly showed me the importance of patient education and outbreak prevention. It was my role to notify cases of their positive result, educate them on ...how to prevent further spread, identify close contacts, and notify the close contacts that they may have been exposed and recommend testing sites to them. In addition, we would help connect families in need with food sources, housing, and financial aid. Marin County has a large Latino/Hispanic community and I was one of the few Spanish speaking CI/CTs. It was important to demonstrate cultural sensitivity as many people were afraid to provide their information due to fear of being reported to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I played a large role in reassuring them their information was not to be utilized in this way and instead would be used to prevent future COVID-19 outbreaks. Overall, this was a great rotation to be a part of and I definitely think I helped make a small difference and know future Touro students will as well!

Student Spotlight Sandy Nguyen & Paul Kim, Class of 2022 Sandy and Paul have managed the competing priorities of a demanding PA/MPH curriculum while making us proud as MVPs of both the TUC volleyball and basketball teams. Our MVPs represented TUC during the past fall and spring semesters in home and away games against TUN, while simultaneously staying on top of their school game, and were often found studying in the library pre-covid.... Prior to PA school, Sandy initially worked in the aerospace industry before finding her passion in healthcare volunteering at local hospitals. Shortly after she became an EMT serving Orange County and later an ER tech. Coming into the PA/MPH at TUC she was extremely nervous but has found her home away from home around her classmates/friends that she says are the real MVPs. Paul was born and raised in Chicago and worked as an outpatient rehab tech at a SNF before starting at TUC. He also volunteered abroad with the Salvation Army promoting sex trafficking awareness, serving homeless populations, and conducting free summer camps for children from low-income areas. Paul is the current president of the TUC Basketball Club and eventually hopes to work in Internal or Family Medicine in the West side of Chicago.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Sean Wang, Class of 2022 After graduating with a BS in Human Biology from UCSD, Sean worked briefly as an EMT on an ambulance before becoming an ER tech at Scripps Mercy in San Diego. He eventually worked his way up to Lead ER Tech, supervisor, educator, and preceptor. Sean also spent ample time volunteering with organizations such as the Red Cross and Pacific Arts Movement amounting to over 2000 hours between 2013 and 2017.... Sean is currently the Student Government Vice President of Communications and the Student Run Free Clinic CEHS Program Coordinator & HOPE Liaison. Sean’s immersion in leadership and community involvement have been valuable avenues for growth, expanding his knowledge and skills, and serving others. He strives to leave a lasting, positive impact on his program and community, and is known for being approachable and proactive. In the future, Sean hopes to work as an Emergency Medicine PA, aiding patients in their time of need through tumultuous struggles.