“The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world.” –Paul Farmer
Syllabus
The Underserved Medicine Seminar is one of the programs of Doctors Without Walls-Santa Barbara Street
Medicine (DWW-SBSM). This class, like all of the work of DWW-SBSM, is a collaborative and volunteer effort.
None of our speakers are accepting honorariums or any financial rewards to participate in teaching this class. They
have all volunteered their time to come to UCSB at their own expense to share with you because they are passionate
about caring for the underserved and about educating the next generation of humanitarian healers. DWW-SBSM is a
grassroots volunteer organization and the teaching of this seminar is consistent with the values of the sponsoring
organization. To learn more about DWW-SBSM programs, please visit www.sbdww.org. Enrolled UCSB students
are encouraged to join Street Health Outreach (SHO), which is the student arm of DWW-SBSM, and does work
with the homeless in Isla Vista.
Students at UCSB love the Underserved Medicine Seminar and are inspired by it to do amazing volunteer work
locally and beyond. Dialogue should never be confined within the walls of academia. To effectively serve the most
vulnerable and marginalized requires dialectic and creative problem solving between academic scholars and the men
and women in the field with proximity to the beneficiaries. Thus, we welcome members of the medical and
advocacy community in addition to UCSB faculty/staff to attend the class alongside the enrolled students to discuss
the issues critically. We encourage members of the local humanitarian community to include students in their work
and for students to engage members of the community in discussion.
Course Description
Using service and problem-based learning methodologies, the seminar explores unique medical needs of vulnerable,
underserved populations internationally and locally. Guest speakers discuss topics ranging from refugee health,
homelessness, humanitarian aid in conflict zones, care of military veterans, global health development, care of
migrant farm workers, and more.
Course Information
- Doctors Without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine is the community sponsor of this course.
- Due to unique circumstances of COVID19 pandemic, Winter 2021 will be offered online using zoom webinar platform.
- Guests from the community are encouraged to attend the lecture and participate in the class discussion.
- Reading: Suggested articles, videos, and volunteer opportunities will be periodically posted on the “Underserved Medicine at
- UCSB” Facebook page and on GauchoSpace class page.
Core topics to be discussed in this course are:
- Care for the homeless
- Humanitarian aid in conflict zones and refugee health
- Global health development and sustainable capacity building
- Care for migrant farm workers, immigrants, and working poor
- Care for military veterans
- Care of Native Americans and ethnic minorities
- Care for mentally ill and substance abuse
- Healthcare policy and population approaches to health
- Social Determinants of Health
- Poverty, structural violence, social bias, and their relationship to poor health
- Care for those affected by disaster
- Role of interdisciplinary approaches to health
- Ethics in global health, public health, and humanitarian medicine
- Role of nutrition in health
- Advocacy and addressing issues of social justice in health
Lectures and Discussion Sections
- This class will take place Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5pm to 615pm PST, during Winter Quarter at UCSB, with a discussion
- Section Wednesdays at 10am, 11am, 1pm, and 2pm PST. If you plan to consistently leave early, please do not take this class.
- You should attend your assigned discussion section unless approved by TA or instructor.
- Honors section is Wednesdays at 3pm. This is in addition to regularly attended Wednesday section. Enrollment is for honors students or with instructor approval. This section will have additional speakers and students will develop a group project proposal to improve health for a vulnerable population and present it to local elected officials and leaders in public health onthe last day of class.
- Attendance for enrolled students is mandatory and synchronous. This is a pass/no pass seminar. You may miss one class and one discussion and still pass the class. If you miss a second lecture and second discussion, you will need to meet with the coordinator to discuss make-up opportunities. There are no exams or papers for this class, though attendance will be taken by in-class polls, periodic discussions on Gauchospace and/or small writing assignments. Opportunities to excuse absences will be announced in class periodically. Falsely attesting class attendance can be grounds for academic disciplinary action.
- Auditors and members of the community are encouraged to attend.
- Please get to class on time and stay to the end. Please keep cameras on during discussion section and small group break-out sessions.
Office Hours
- The course coordinator is Jason Prystowsky, MD, MPH. His office hours will be by appointment virtually. He can be reached by email (jprystowsky@ucsb.edu).
Contact Information
- The course has a Facebook page open to the public: “UCSB Underserved Medicine Course” where various articles, volunteer opportunities, and discussion forums may take place.
- Periodic announcements, discussions, assignments, and optional reading will be posted on GauchoSpace for enrolledstudents.
- For additional questions regarding attendance and make-up sessions, you can email Teaching Assistant team (underservedmedicineucsb@gmail.com) or individually to Nora Siegler (norasiegler@ucsb.edu) and Kelly Garvey (kellygarvey8@gmail.com)
Winter 2021: Underserved Medicine Seminar at UCSB
Syllabus (download)
Week 1: Emergency Medical Response to Disaster and Structural Racism in Medicine
• Tuesday January 5: Taking Emergency Medicine from The Streets of NYC to the World
Sean Kivlehan MD, MPH, Fellowship director, Global Emergency Medicine Fellowship, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Instructor, Harvard Medical School, Affiliate Faculty,
Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (http://hhi.harvard.edu).
Tuesday 5pm LectureYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Jan 5, 2021 05:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Topic: INT 75 – Underserved Medicine Seminar (Tuesday Lecture)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WLW9R0FRTj–hOVVBqeIgQ
• Wednesday January 6 discussion
Home for Good, Santa Barbara County and SB ACT – Homelessness and Human Trafficking 101
Emily Allen JD, Director of Impact Initiatives, United Way/Home For Good Santa Barbara County, (www.HomeForGoodSBC.org), Jeff Shafer, Director of Initiatives, SB ACT (www.sbact.org)
• Wednesday January 6 (Honors Section)
Health Equity, the LatinX and Indigenous Migrant COVID19 Response Task Force, Santa Barbara County
Melissa Smith MD, Director of Health Equity Initiatives, UC Santa Barbara, Deputy Director of Education and Training, Women’s Health, Gender and Empowerment Center of
Expertise, University of California Global Health Institute (https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2020/019979/force-good), VCMC Health Equity Grand Rounds 2020 (video on Gauchospace)
• Thursday January 7: Structural racism in medicine
Jada Bussey Jones MD, Professor and Vice Chair of Medicine, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Asst Dean Faculty Development, Emory University School of Medicine, (TEDtalk
Allegories in Race, Dr Camara Jones, 2014 (https://ed.ted.com/on/emYm0MBq), Implicit Association Test (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/)
Thursday 5pm LectureYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Jan 7, 2021 05:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Topic: INT 75 Underserved Medicine Seminar Lecture (Thursday Lecture)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PQzT2LukQ96Or5RaA2ST1A
Week 2: Nutrition and Environmental Justice and Health
• Tuesday January 12: Food Security and Food Literacy
Erik Talkin, Santa Barbara County Food Bank, (www.foodbanksbc.org), TEDtalk Why Giving People More Food Doesn’t End Hunger
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WLW9R0FRTj–hOVVBqeIgQ
• Wednesday January 13 discussion
Population Health
Katy Bazylewicz, Vice President for Marketing and Population Health; Cara Silva, Director of Population Health; Monica Ray, Population Health Strategic Development
Manager; Salvador Robledo Community Services Program Manager; (www.cottagehealth.org/population-health/), (Community Health Needs Assessment Health
Indicators: www.cottagehealth.org/CHNA, (Cottage Data2Go: www.cottagedata2go.org)
• Wednesday January 13 (Honors Section)
Local Humanitarian Action
Alex Leasure MD, co-medical director Doctors Without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine, Cathy Mollkoy RN, Parish nursing, DWW-SBSM, Lynn Mattis MSW, Social
Worker, Laura Polito MD, Board Member DWW-SBSM (www.sbdww.org)
• Thursday January 14: Climate Cure: a doctor’s journey to save the rainforest
Kinari Webb MD, Founder Health in Harmony (http://www.healthinharmony.org) (TEDtalk Kinari Webb, Saving Lives by Saving Trees, 2016,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJkeZ_4wuYg) (PNAS, Improving rural healthcare, 2020, https://www.pnas.org/content/117/45/28515)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PQzT2LukQ96Or5RaA2ST1A
Week 3: Care for those experiencing homelessness and advocacy for vulnerable victims of crimes
• Tuesday January 19: Reflections from the Streets of Boston: Lessons Learned over the Past Three Decades
James O’Connell, MD, Founder Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, Department of Medicine Massachusetts General Hospital (http://www.bhchp.org/), Assistant professor Harvard Medical School (Scholarly articles posted on Gauchospace)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WLW9R0FRTj–hOVVBqeIgQ
• Wednesday January 20 discussion
Street Medicine and Radical Humility
Brett Feldman MSPAS, PA-C , Director USC Street Medicine,, Vice Chair Street Medicine Institute; Corrinne Feldman, MMS, PA-C, Director of Didactic Education USC PA
Program, (TED talk Street Medicine: Caring for the Homeless with Radical Humility, 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wajr21K87U0) , (http://www.streetmedicine.org)
• Wednesday January 20 (Honors Section)
Jim Withers MD, Pittsburgh Mercy Health System, Founder Operation Safety Net, Founder Street Medicine Institute, (http://www.streetmedicine.org) (CNN Hero of the year
2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJtIU0ZAtrg)
• Thursday January 21: Vulnerable Victim Populations
Megan Rheinschild, Victim Witness Program Director, Santa Barbara County DA Office. TEDtalk 2017 The Face of Human Trafficking
(https://tedxsantabarbara.com/2017/megan-rheinschild/), (https://www.countyofsb.org/da/humantrafficking.html)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PQzT2LukQ96Or5RaA2ST1A
Week 4: Neglected Tropical Diseases, Malnutrition in Children, Women’s Health
• Tuesday January 26: Neglected Tropical Diseases
Indi Trehan MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Global Health, University of Washington
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WLW9R0FRTj–hOVVBqeIgQ
• Wednesday January 27 discussion
Access to Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare
Jenna Tosh PhD, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood California Central Coast, Maryam Guiahi MD, MSc, Vice President of Medical Affairs, Planned Parenthood Central
California Coast, (www.ppcentralcoast.org)
• Wednesday January 27 (Honors Section)
Care for Transgender and Non-Binary People
Max Rorty LCSW, Social Worker Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, (https://sbclinics.org)
• Thursday January 28: A Personal Journey to Combat Malnutrition
Parmi Suchdev MD, MPH, Associate Director, Emory Global Health Institute; Professor of Pediatrics and Global Health Emory University (www.globalhealth.emory.edu)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PQzT2LukQ96Or5RaA2ST1A
Week 5: Native American Health, Refugee Health, EMS, and substance use
• Tuesday February 2: Native American Health, Calcutta Rescue
Jonathan Resiman MD, Pine Ridge IHS, Calcutta Rescue, (https://calcuttarescue.org)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WLW9R0FRTj–hOVVBqeIgQ
• Wednesday February 3: Wednesday discussion
10am, 11am section
The role of 911 in serving the underserved in our local community
Chris Mailes, Interim Fire Chief Santa Barbara City Fire Department, (https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/fire/default.asp)
1pm, 2pm section
Substance Use/UCSB Student Community/Marginalized Populations
Jackie Kurta MFT, Angie Bryan MFT UCSB Alcohol Counseling, Prevention, Education and Recovery Program, (https://adp.sa.ucsb.edu)
• Wednesday February 3 (Honors Section)
Social Medicine in the time of COVID
Sara Doorley MD, Laura Parajon MD, University New Mexico School of Medicine
• Thursday February 4: Using Science to Document Human Rights Violations; the Rohingya
Parveen Parmar MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Clinical Emergency Medicine, Chief, Division of Global Emergency Medicine, Keck School of Medicine University of Southern
California. (https://rohingya.phr.org/)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PQzT2LukQ96Or5RaA2ST1A
Week 6: Immigrant Health, Water security, Mental Health and Law Enforcement
• Tuesday February 9: Border Medicine, Injustice, and Physician Activism
Julie Sierra MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, UC San Diego School of Medicine, Minority Humanitarian Foundation, (https://www.minorityhumanitarianfoundation.com/)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WLW9R0FRTj–hOVVBqeIgQ
• Wednesday February 10 discussion
Mental Health and Law Enforcement
Cherylynn Lee PhD, Law Enforcement and Mental Health, First Responder Psychologist, Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office Behavioral Sciences Unit, Counseling Team International
(https://www.sbsheriff.org/behavioral-sciences-unit/), (https://thecounselingteam.com/)
• Wednesday February 10 (Honors Section)
COVID19 Impact on Vulnerable Populations
Lynn Fitzgibbons MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine USC Keck School of Medicine, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health
(http://cosb.countyofsb.org/phd/)
• Thursday February 11: Flint Water Crisis
Dominic Borgialli DO, MPH, and, Hernan Gomez MD, Associate Professors Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan, Attending Physicians Hurley Medical Center, Flint, MI,
(Were the Children of Flint Poisoned? Not so Fast. . . ZDoggMD 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK3n_s_ZB0w&feature=youtu.be_), Exposing Flint Water Crisis CBS Sunday Morning (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd2qxi2mF_4)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PQzT2LukQ96Or5RaA2ST1A
Week 7: Global Health in underserved communities, Disaster Logistics
• Tuesday February 16: Ending Preventable Blindness
Jeff Levenson MD, ophthalmologist, Chief Medical Officer SEE international (TEDtalk Ending Preventable Blindness: Reinventing Cataract Surgery, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPOkVZP0Z78), https://www.cureblindness.org/assets/ee/files/RuitChang_Paper_Phaco_vs._SICS.pdf),
(https://www.givewell.org/international/technical/programs/cataract-surgery), (https://www.seeintl.org)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WLW9R0FRTj–hOVVBqeIgQ
• Wednesday February 17: discussion
Logistics of Disaster Response and Direct Relief
Andrew McCullough, Cydney Justman, Leighton Jones, Direct Relief; International Programs & Emergency Preparedness and Response (http://www.directrelief.org/),
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8-6p_2jJfA&t=125s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBKDJh0Bqjo
• Wednesday February 17 (Honors Section)
Child Advocacy
Margot Roseman MD, Community Pediatrician, Childrens Medical Clinic, Santa Barbara, CA. TEDtalk 2015 Nadine Burke Harris, How Childhood Trauma affects Health Across a
Lifetime (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXXTLf7oouU&feature=youtu.be), Got your ACEs Score? (and, at the end, What is your resilience score?)
(https://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/), CDC Violence Prevention: Child Abuse and Neglect (https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/) CDC Child
Sexual Abuse (https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/childsexualabuse.html)
• Thursday February 18: Global Health
Timothy Holtz MD, MPH, Adjunct Associate Professor of Global Health, Emory University, Founding Member Doctors for Global Health, author of A Doctor in Little Lhasa: One
Year in Dharamshala with the Tibetans-in-Exile, (https://dghonline.org)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PQzT2LukQ96Or5RaA2ST1A
Week 8: Social Determinants of Health, Health Equity, The Opiate Epidemic
• Tuesday February 23: Values Based Care Coordination to Integrate SDoH and Improve Health
David Buck MD, MPH, Associate Dean and Professor for Community Health, University of Houston College of Medicine, Founder: Healthcare for the Homeless – Houston
(http://www.homeless-healthcare.org), Patient Care Intervention Center http://www.pcicts.org
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WLW9R0FRTj–hOVVBqeIgQ
• Wednesday February 24: Wednesday discussion
10am, 11am section
The Opiate Epidemic in the Midwest, addiction medicine, and medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorder
Nicole Gastala MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Family Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago (When an Iowa Family Doctor Takes on the Opioid Epidemic, New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/23/health/opioid-addiction-suboxone-treatment.html), Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder:
Improving Adherence and Outcomes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWYKhLLQt2Y)
1pm, 2pm section
The Opiate Epidemic among the homeless
Mariel Lougee MD, Family Physician Contra Costa County Healthcare for the Homeless (https://cchealth.org/healthcare-for-homeless/)
• Wednesday February 24 (Honors Section)
High-Cost/High-Need People: The Use of Values Approach in Engaging Change
Nick Maguire PhD, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, University of Southampton UK
• Thursday February 25: Responsible Engagement in Global Health and Community Medicine
Toni Eyssallenne MD, PhD, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, NY Market Director for Cityblock Health
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PQzT2LukQ96Or5RaA2ST1A
Week 9: Medical Care, Public Health, Humanitarian Aid in War and Conflict
• Tuesday March 2: Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: The Battle of Mosul
Matthew Waxman, MD, FACEP, DTM&H, UCLA/Olive View-UCLA Emergency Medicine Residency Program, Clinical Professor of Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine at
UCLA, Medical director NYC Medics Global Disaster Relief (https://nycmedics.org)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WLW9R0FRTj–hOVVBqeIgQ
• Wednesday March 3 discussion
Ethics in Global Health and Underserved Medicine – Small Group Case Study Discussion
Prystowsky and Faculty
• Wednesday March 3 (Honors Section)
Medical Ethics: Professionalism
Jerome Hoffman MD, Professor of Medicine Emeritus, University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine
• Thursday March 4: Principles of War Surgery: Experience in Syria
Samer Attar MD, Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Northwestern School of Medicine (NYT 2016, Why I go to Aleppo
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/opinion/sunday/why-i-go-to-aleppo.html)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PQzT2LukQ96Or5RaA2ST1A
Week 10: Community Based Health and Effective Communication in Crisis
• Tuesday March 9: A Crash Course in Crisis Communication and Negotiation – concepts and skills to navigate conflict and crisis in dynamic medical environments
Phil Andrew, Former FBI Agent/Crisis Negotiator, Adjunct Instructor DePaul University’s MBA School and Department of Management & Entrepreneurship
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WLW9R0FRTj–hOVVBqeIgQ
• Wednesday March 10 discussion
Final Reflections – Why are Individuals and Communities Unhealthy? What am I going to do about it?
Prystowsky and faculty
• Wednesday March 10 (Honors)
Student Project Presentations – proposals to improve health for vulnerable populations
(invited panelists to hear student presentations) Salud Carbajal, Monique Limon, Gregg Hart, Van DeReynosa, Henning Ansorg
• Thursday March 11: Achieving Health Equity: One Person’s Approach
Charles Moore MD, Emory Univ School of Medicine, Grady Memorial Hospital (Emory SoM Hidden Gems: Dr Charles Moore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkXQsUBW4d8) (https://www.healingcommunitycenter.org)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://ucsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PQzT2LukQ96Or5RaA2ST1A

Paul Jaconette MPH
President, Board Member
Fr. Jon-Stephen Hedges, CTR, EMT-B
Vice-president, Board Member
Marguerite Sanchez
Secretary/Treasurer, Board Member
Chelsea Dean MD
Medical Director
Alex Leasure MD
Medical Director
Jason Prystowsky, MD, MPH
Board Member
Laura Polito, MD
Board Member
Jorie Nielsen, FNP
Medical Director, Women’s Free Homeless Clinic
Lynn Mattis, MSW
Social Worker, Mental Health
Chief Lori Luhnow
Board Member
Kayla Rosen MD
Board Member
Fred Kass, JD, MPA, MD
Board Member