USD President's Report 2003

ANITA HUNTER. f:1culty . halrn sc hoo l of 11urs111 g and h c-alt h sc ience

As director of USl)'s Master's Emry Program 111 Nursing - for peopk \\·ith bachelor·, degreL'S i11 other fie ld, who opt to chan ge careers ;llld pursue 11urs111g - Hunter \\·ill crn1t i11u c· her 111ternati o11al healt h outreac h in March, whc·11 she \\·ill tak e her stud ents to neighbo rh oods i11 Tiju ;111a , Mesico. T here , 111 culLibo ratio 11 \\·ith the San i)i ego c hapte r of the N,1tio 11al AwK1 ,1tio11 o f l-lispa111 c Nurses. they will co ndu ct health scrc·c·11i11 gs and edu cationa l SL'Ss io11s for Hi spa ni c fa mili es. '"Sin ce I' ve come here . 1\-c look ed at wavs to reach out to the underser\-cd Hi spanics here i11 San Di ego and ;icross the horder." s;1ys l-lu11tcr, \YhOSL' c·speric-11ce with l-lisp;111ic popuhtio11s befrwc co111i11g to US!) in cluded dL·\·elop111rnt of ,1 mob ile hea lth clini c to ser\·L· South C,1roli11a·s 111igra11t \1·01-kcrs. ThL' oldest of sis childrL'll, l-lu11tn decided during her se ni or yc;ir in hi gh sc hoo l to bcco111e a nursL' . 111 ti111e . shL· sa\1· the profess io n as a ca lling. " I bcca111c a lll1rsc to hL·lp others, but I never thought I \H)uld 111,1ke it a lit,:lo11 g c 1rc·n ," Hu11tn says. ·• 1 lo ved what I did. and fou11d I wanted to 111 ake a differen ce. To 111,1kc· th;1t difl·L'rL'll Ce lllc';lllt rc·111;1i11111g co111111itted to \Hnki11g \\'ith th ose 111 nec·d." Fo r 15 \Tars. l-lumn was ,1 pL·diatri c nurse· pr;1etiti o11n \\'o rkin g with und erserved youth ,111d f1111 ili L·s i11 the 11111er city o f Spri11gtJeld , Mass. After ea rnin g ;1 doctonte , she taught at the U11i\-crsitY of Massac hu setts and then ,1t South C;1ro li11;1·s C k111 so11 U 11 ivc·rsit\·, \\' hLTL' she took 111orc tha 11 :ii)() srndL·nts and o ther hL·alth profL·ssio 11als rn1 t\1·0-\1-ce k health 1111ss iom to West Afriu. Januica and lrL·Lrnd. 011 thL'SL' 111 edica l 111iss io11 s she also conducted resea rch rn1 ,1doksce11t rc-sili e11ce . tr;1diti o11al hL·,dth pr;1cti ces and the ;1e hieVL'lllL'llt of culturall y co11 1pc·te11t hL·alth ca rL'. Taking her sk ills oversc·as \\·asn't \\·ithout h;irdships. l-lumn !us skpt 011 th L· fl oor i11 a rorn11 \Yith 1-1- o thn peopk and one toilet. suffnL·d parasiti c ail111c·11ts from th e co11ta 111111ated food and rh e L' rn·iro11111 e11r i11 Ch,111;1. ha ckL·d hn w,1y through thL· bush and j un gles of Chana ,111d J 1111aica , and em1u1Td rq)c'ated

bo111b att,Kks in IJ L•It:1st. where bombs srn n etilllL'' wc·11t off onl y a block J\\'ay. During upco11 l111 g trips to Mes ico . Hun ter and her grad u,ltL' studc'11ts w ill spL·nd several days screc·11mg p,1 tic·1w, - those \\ itl1 littk o r 110 access to the hea lth ca re service, avaibbk i11 Mesico - fcx ailments i11cludi11 g asthma. di.1bnc·s, lwpcrtc·11sio11 ;111d k ,1d poiso11i11g from L'11\·iro11111L·mal co11ta111i11 atio11 . Their work \\·ill be ca rried 011 by ph ysic1a11 s i11 Tijuana \Yho . at ,111 ,1fforLbble price , ha ve ni lu ntecred to follm\· patients ll L'l'di11 g ;1ddirio 11al medical atte11rio11. l-lu11rn c'VL'lltuall v hopes to c:s; pand the progr.111 1 to wceklo 11g hea lth 111iss io11 s. sim iLir to thosL· she ctlllductc·d i11 G ln 11a ,rnd J1mai c 1. 111 addition to nlll duni11g hc·;dth snc·e11i11gs. stud L·11 ts \\·ill edu cate parie1Hs 0 11 subjL'C ts such as the 11eed to propnl\' gl.i ZL' k ,1d-basL·d cook ing porter\" to prc·\·e11t kad poiso11111g. ,111d hm1· to better co11tro l diabL'[L'S and hypcrtc'11S io11 by cookin g \1·irh vegctabk oi l r;1rhn than a11im ,il-based oil. o r s\Y itchi11 g from tlour torril bs to co rn torti ll.1 s. w hi ch can !own firs and c1 rbohydratL'S. The\' also \1·ill tralll crn 11111u11it\ ill'a lth \\·orkers ro co11ri1H1 L· rill' L'd uc 1tio11,1l dt<.irts. No 111artn \1·hcre she tnl'e!s. Humer lJL' ii L·\·es hn duty is not just ro help pL·opk, but to hL·lp them ti11d w,1ys to help rhc·msL·h-c·s. It's ;1 prin ciple to \1·hi ch she tL·els mor;1ll y ;llld L·thi c dk bound. "You wa m to gi ve L'\'cryt hi11 g \ 'O U ha\'L' to L'n-rybody." shL· savs. ''I' ve se L·11 other hea lth prm·idns and studL·ms µ;o \\·ith ;1 suitcase and co nlL' home wirh nothing. 13ur yo u ha\·c· to tJ11d ways to hL·lp thc·m stand 011 th eir 0\1·11 t\\·o feet ;llld h;rndk thc·ir 0\\·11 probkms. Th,1t \\';!\' . if yo u can llL'\"LT go there ,1g;1i11 . th e\" ca n carry 011 without yo u."