Contact: Rosanne Fohn, (210) 567-3079

Students and teachers from Brackettville, Carrizo Springs, Crystal City and Zavala high schools, are pictured with President Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D. (in dark suit) and organizers of LLANO, a weeklong program focusing on chronic health issues in South Texas.
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SAN ANTONIO (Aug. 14, 2008) — Twenty high school students and four teachers from Brackettville, Carrizo Springs, Crystal City and Zapata took a break from their summertime routine to attend a weeklong program in San Antonio focused on chronic disease issues in South Texas. The students and teachers learned about healthy lifestyles, career opportunities in the allied health professions and how they can improve the health of residents in their hometowns by planning and carrying out health-oriented community service projects.

The LLANO (Learn, Lead, Advance to New Opportunity) project is sponsored by The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the South Central Area Health Education Center and Methodist HealthCare Ministries of South Texas Inc. The project is funded by a grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

LLANO gives students hands-on experiences
“Overall the students were very excited about the program,” said Amanda Lopez, health careers program coordinator with the South Central Texas Area Health Education Center (AHEC). “They got to stay in the dorms at UTSA and ask health professions students questions about college life. They also spent a lot of time with students at the Health Science Center doing hands-on activities that really showed them what the health professions are like.”

The South Central Texas AHEC is one of five community-based outreach centers located in the 38 counties of South Texas affiliated with the Center for South Texas Programs of the UT Health Science Center. The AHEC Program is a health professions workforce development agency that has been a health careers outreach entity of the Health Science Center since 1992.

Crystal City students now interested in deaf education and hearing science
“I learned a million things I didn’t know before about different health careers,” Kathleen Benavides, a senior at Crystal City High School said. “I was not really interested in the health field before, but now I’m going to be looking into it a lot more.” She said she is interested in deaf education and hearing science, which helps children with hearing loss learn to hear and speak using the hearing they still have, high-powered hearing aids and surgical procedures to maximize their hearing potential. Others attending the conference from Crystal City included Benavides’ twin sister Katherine Benavides, Valerie Balderas, Carlos Flores, Anthony Martinez, Alyssa Olvedo and Josette Saldana, along with their teacher, Luis Hinojosa.

Katherine Benavides and Kathleen Benavides from Crystal City High School show off their suturing.

Brackettville’s Cantu wants to become a surgeon
Victor Cantu, a Brackettville High School junior, said, “I learned I definitely want to go into the health field. I want to be a heart surgeon. After learning about suturing (sewing up a wound) and intubating (placing a tube down a patient’s throat to help them breathe), I’ve found that it’s everything I thought it would be. I can really see myself learning all about this for eight years to become a heart surgeon.” Also attending the conference from Brackettville were Alexis Danielle Buecher, Elidia Molinar and teacher John McKaskle.

Zapata students wants to improve community’s fitness
Zapata High School was well represented with health science technology teacher Homero Garza and students Leslie Gonzalez, Clarissa Linda Guerra and Ryan Torres. Gonzalez, a senior, said, “It was a very good learning experience. It was an eye-opener. I found out what is out there (in the health professions) and that we can make a difference. We can help inform people in our communities about how to prevent health problems.”

Gonzalez and her classmates hope to implement a community service project to make their school gym available not only to students who are in physical education classes and athletics, but to all students, as well as the community. “The gym in our community closed down and there are problems with snakes at our school track and in our neighborhood parks. We’d like the gym to be open so that everyone can use it,” Gonzalez said.

Students from Carrizo Springs planning a community walk/run
Elias Salazar, a Carrizo Springs High School student, added, “Obesity is a problem in Carrizo. We have activities, but not many people want to join them. We want to help people get more active by having a run/walk.” Joining Salazar at the conference were Daniel Arce Jr., Mauro Galvan, Nikki Marroquin, Francisca Martinez, Oscar Salazar, Lizandra Salas and their teacher, Adrian Chapa.

Some of the students from Crystal City and Carrizo Springs received scholarships to attend LLANO based on their performance as counselors at Camp Get Fit, a nutrition and fitness camp for children at risk of diabetes, which often develops with obesity. Camp Get Fit is sponsored by the Methodist HealthCare Ministries Inc., which also provided the scholarships.

Tackling the issues of obesity
Garza, the teacher from Zapata High School, added that he is teaching his students about nutrition and exercise as part of their health science and technology class. “The students now have a new awareness of what’s going on in our community and how it’s affecting us. Obesity is like a plague. It is increasing diabetes and heart problems. I try to teach them that fast food has too many calories and is not good for them, but now they really understand it. They see problems with what they are eating and are very hyped up and want to do something to make a difference.”

Shortage of health providers in South Texas offers job opportunities
“All of South Texas has been designated as a medically underserved area and as a health professional shortage area, meaning that there are not enough health professionals in South Texas to help residents stay healthy,” explained Dennis Blessing, Ph.D., PA-C, distinguished teaching professor and chair of the UT Health Science Center’s Physician Assistant Studies program and the associate dean for South Texas programs.

“We hope that projects like LLANO will help students see that they can make a difference in their communities by leading community service projects that teach their family and friends how to live more healthily. We also hope that they will consider entering the health professions and come back to South Texas to provide health care in their communities.”

Entering the health profession
After successfully completing certain college courses as prerequisites, students can apply to the UT Health Science Center School of Allied Health Sciences. The school offers degrees in clinical laboratory sciences, deaf education and hearing sciences, dental hygiene, dental laboratory sciences, emergency health services, occupational therapy, physician assistant studies, physical therapy and respiratory care, with a new dietetics and nutrition program planned for fall 2009.

Some programs offer classes at the Health Science Center’s Laredo Campus Extension. For more information, please contact the School of Allied Health Sciences Welcome Center at (210) 567-8744 or toll-free at (866) 802-6288. More information also is available through the School of Allied Health Sciences Web site.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $576 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $15.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 23,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.