Institutes and Projects

Health sciences faculty, staff and students are involved in a variety of research, grant, and community outreach initiatives.

The Office of Community-Based Partnerships oversees many SMHS-sponsored initiatives that promote community-outreach, health care to underserved populations, and service learning. Dr. Lisa Alexander serves as the Assistant Dean for Community-Based Partnerships. In this capacity, she and her staff facilitate opportunities for students and faculty that link them to the most vulnerable residents of the District of Columbia.  In addition, we host a Summer Health Career Institute for high school students interested in pursuing a health care. This annual program is supported by DC Public School’s Office of Career and Technology Education. The office also works with the American Medical Student Association to host the kickoff of National Primary Care Week activities each year.

The two largest initiatives sponsored by the office include:

The DC Area Health Education Center

This federally funded program provides support for training in many of the community clinics across the city.  Within these clinics, students train as physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and public health professionals.  They are able to experience primary care delivered in a variety of community health settings including, school-based health centers, homeless shelters, and birthing centers.  Experiences with public health interventions, direct patient care, and community health education are a few of the activities open to students at all levels of training.

ISCOPES Program

The Interdisciplinary Student Community-Oriented Prevention Enhancement Service (ISCOPES) consists of interdisciplinary health-profession students from the George Washington and George Mason Universities, working in teams, doing service learning projects within the community.  ISCOPES has partnered with various community-based organizations which provide a wide range of services to the residents of the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. Populations at these sites include: preschool children; immigrants; senior citizens; the homeless and other vulnerable population groups.  Student projects cover a wide range of activities such as conducting asthma management classes, conducting and evaluating needs assessments for Head Start participants, and developing and implementing health promotion and wellness activities for seniors, the disabled, and other at-risk groups.

Other SMHS special programs include:

Building a Practice in Your Home Community

This online toolkit provides education, resources, and examples to assist providers in starting and operating a health care practice.

George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health

(GWish)

Established in 2001 GWish is a nationally recognized program that focuses on the place of spirituality within health care and health care education. GWish is working toward a more compassionate system of health care by restoring the heart and humanity of medical practices it supports research, education, and policy work to bring increased attention to the spiritual needs of patients, families, and the health care professionals. GWish founder and director, Christina M. Puchalski, MD, an associate professor of medicine and health care sciences, is changing the face of health care through innovative programs for physicians and other members of the health care team, including clergy and chaplains. GWish's pioneering work has had a major impact on medical education, professional education, and clinical programs at local, national, and international levels.

The Center on Aging, Health & Humanities.

The Center on Aging, Health & Humanities at the George Washington University in Washington, DC has been active in establishing programs to study the needs of our aging population. Directed by Gene D. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D, the Center coordinates a major research program focused on creativity and aging. In addition, the Center houses the Creativity Discovery Corps, a new program targeting the creative efforts of older persons. This program fosters the release of human potential in older individuals. It supports volunteers to promote the visibility of talented older persons.And it researches the best practices for helping older persons to be creative.

The National Nurse Emergency Preparedness Initiative

(NNEPI)

Recognizing the critical role that nurses play in our nation’s homeland security efforts, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Domestic Preparedness awarded The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences a $2 million grant for the National Nurse Emergency Preparedness Initiative (NNEPI) under its FY2004 Competitive Training Grants Program. Led by Principal Investigator Jean E. Johnson, PhD, FAAN (Senior Associate Dean of Health Science Programs) and Co-Investigator Ellen M. Dawson, PhD, ANP (Chair of the Department of Nursing Education), NNEPI is a web-based training initiative for nurses focused on providing opportunities for dynamic and interactive application of both theory and practice through scenario-based learning.