Learning Outside of the Classroom: An Environmental Medicine and Public Health Training Program at the Texas-Mexico Border

The South Texas Environmental Education and Research (STEER) Program has contributed to environmental medicine and border health training for over 18 years by training hundreds of public health and health profession students in a rich, rewarding, enlightening  interprofessional educational experience at the Texas-Mexico Border.  Residents, who live in sprawling unincorporated tracts called colonias along the Texas-Mexico border, commonly face inadequate access to potable water and wastewater services, electricity, and healthcare, placing them at increased risk of environmental exposures that adversely affect health. These border communities exhibit an increased prevalence of acute and chronic disease compared to national averages. With a unique blend of service, learning and research the STEER program works to serve the needs of border residents while enabling public health and health professions students to recognize and address environmental health concerns within their scope of practice. The program is located in Harlingen, Texas; a regional campus for the School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. The STEER program is a 4-week elective that trains students and healthcare professionals through in vivo experiences, with direct exposure to the many environmental medicine and public health concerns of the Texas-Mexico border region. For this presentation we will detail the in vivo training for public health and health profession students. Describe at least two environmental health research projects for trainees. Explain current limitations for developing environmental medicine and border health elective in a school of medicine.