Tisch Fund Projects

Immigrant Health Care Symposium- TUSM

The second annual Immigrant Healthcare Symposium, hosted by Tufts University School of Medicine, aims to equip health professional students with a deeper understanding of the unique healthcare needs of immigrants in the U.S., with a focus on Massachusetts. The event highlights the healthcare barriers faced by immigrants and refugees and features discussions from experts in law, clinical care, policy, activism, and community health. By amplifying immigrant voices and offering an interdisciplinary approach, the symposium encourages students to reflect on their roles in advancing health equity and shaping policies that promote compassionate, accessible care for underserved populations. Open to all Tufts graduate students on the Boston Health Sciences campus, the symposium welcomes participants from fields such as medicine, dental medicine, public health, and nutrition. As healthcare increasingly embraces a team-based approach, attendees will gain insights into how various disciplines collaborate to deliver better care and advocate effectively in their communities. This entirely student-led event is spearheaded by a team of second-year medical students dedicated to immigrant healthcare, supported by a broader planning committee. Keynote speaker Dr. Aura Obando, Family Team Medical Director for the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, will share her expertise, with guidance from faculty champion Dr. Sarah Rosenberg-Scott. Building on last year’s success, this symposium continues to promote advocacy and dialogue for equitable healthcare in immigrant communities.

IMPROVing Medicine: Using Improv to Address Physician Empathy and Empower Afro-Latin Youth- TUSM

What if the secret to becoming a more empathetic and effective physician lies not in lectures or textbooks, but in theatre? In today’s diverse healthcare environment, empathy, trauma-informed care, and cultural humility are essential skills for physicians. Unfortunately, numerous studies have demonstrated a notable decline in empathy as medical students progress through medical school with patients from lower socioeconomic status (SES) disproportionately experiencing lower empathy from physicians. In light of these issues, it is critically important to create novel ways of improving and sustaining physician empathy. Improvisational theatre (improv) is a form of unscripted theatre that has been cited to positively impact empathy. The inclusion of improv techniques in classroom settings has been linked to growth in creativity, better communication practices, ideation, and psychological well-being. In an effort to connect the positive effects of improv with the current needs of medical students, we created IMPROVing Medicine. This program takes learning beyond the classroom, offering a dynamic and interactive experience through improvisational theatre. Led by talented Afro-Latin youth from the Hyde Square Task Force, these fun and insightful exercises are designed to enhance clinical skills and empower local Afro-Latin youth while fostering a lasting connection between TUSM and HSTF.

Tufts Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration- AS&E Undergraduates

The Indigenous Students’ Organization at Tufts (ISOT) invites you to our Indigenous Peoples' Day Celebration, which focuses on celebrating Indigenous and Native American people at Tufts and in our communities. Our council of Indigenous students have worked very hard to celebrate each other, honor the land of the peoples’ that we reside on, and continue engagement with the surrounding Indigenous organizations and communities. The celebration will be held on October 13th from 1pm-6:30pm on the residential quad, with a program packed full of Indigenous music, dance, and speakers. As well, we will have over 20 vendors selling handmade jewelry, artwork, and clothes, and two caterers who will bring Samoan and Aquinnah-Wampanoag foods. We hope to see you there!

 

The Decolonizing International Relations Conference- Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

The Decolonizing International Relations (“DIR”) Conference has been a staple of The Fletcher School’s fall semester programming since 2018. The conference serves as a platform for addressing pressing issues and concerns within the field of International Relations, aiming to develop solutions for global challenges that arise from antiquated and harmful power structures. This year’s theme is “Building the Narrative” in which activists, scholars, students, and community members collaboratively engage in interrogating dominant narratives in international relations discourse and practice. DIR’s session aims to discuss issues like the interplay between climate narratives and international relation, technology, international law, development, security and other matters often debated and contested. The conference will also feature workshops on narratives recognition, construction, and formation together with speaker panels and discussion sessions.

Asylum Medicine Training- TUSM

Tufts Human Rights and Asylum Clinic (THRAC) is hosting a Physician for Human Rights Asylum Medicine Training on November 9th at Maine Medical Center. The purpose of the training is to teach medical providers to conduct forensic medical and psychological exams for individuals seeking legal asylum in the United States. Forensic medical exams (FMEs) are used to document clinical evidence to corroborate an applicant's need for asylum due to physical or psychological harm. THRAC is a student-run clinic that schedules FMEs for asylum seekers and provides training opportunities to increase the number of certified evaluators to expand capacity to meet the demands of the growing community of asylum seekers in Maine and New England. Our training on November 9th will include sessions on asylum law, medical FMEs, psychological FMEs, affidavit writing, and a session dedicated to learning about examining and documenting trauma experienced by LGBTQ+ clients. Our fall training is open to any medical providers or students that are interested in learning more about the asylum process and becoming trained to perform forensic medical and psychological exams. The training is being organized at Maine Medical Center as the joint effort of two student organizations, the Tufts Human Rights and Asylum Clinic (a student chapter of Physicians for Human Rights) and the Family Medicine Interest Group

ASDA Advocacy Month-TUSDM

The ASDA Advocacy committee is celebrating advocacy month, closely aligning with the National ASDA Advocacy theme, Win the Race, as it is election season! We will be kicking off the celebrations with the event Donut Forget to Vote, encouraging dental students to vote and helping them understand the implications of policies in the dental field. Then we will transition into a managing misinformation event with the Wellness committee, emphasizing the importance of civic engagement and educating dental students on how to sort through misinformation. And during the week of the election, we will host a D4 panel focusing on the importance of mentorship, wellness, advocating for yourself and patients. For another event, we will be hosting a holistic dentist to educate students on the importance of environment, technology, and building connections across different dental disciplines. Then to end the celebrations we will host Dr. Weinstock, a dentist and lawyer, or help students understand the importance of civic engagement and educating students on the legal side of dentistry.

The Petey Greene Program Panel- AS&E Undergraduates 

The Tufts chapter of the Petey Greene Program is hosting a panel on November 19th, in the Joyce Cummings Center in room 140 at 6pm, to discuss how education impacts reentry. We will have three incredible speakers: Lynne Sullivan, Kentel Weaver, and James Matesanz who all bring different perspectives to this topic. As a program centered around education and carceral justice, this event will be a space to discuss how education programming works inside incarcerated facilities, and its impact, centered around the experience of the panelists.

Justice for the Homeless- TUSM

Justice For the Homeless (JFH) Month is an annual series of panels, workshops, and presentations organized by Healthcare Alliance for the Homeless, a student-led organization at Tufts University’s School of Medicine and funded by Tisch College of Civic Life. Given that the School of Medicine operates in a large, urban setting with a significant population of people experiencing homelessness, the Healthcare Alliance for the Homeless believes that it is essential for Tufts medical students to have a strong understanding of homelessness in order to practice with cultural humility and ethically and effectively engage in efforts to address homelessness. Justice for the Homeless Month improves students’ understanding of the lived experience of homelessness, how homelessness affects health, and ways to optimize healthcare for people experiencing homelessness. Understanding that multiple factors contribute to the health of people experiencing homelessness, Justice for the Homeless Month is organized in collaboration with the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Project, Tufts Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine Interest Groups, and Biomedical Queer Alliance.

Conference on Gender and International Affairs- Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy 

For its 10th anniversary, CGIA 2024 exists to create a collaborative environment in which international systems, norms, and power structures can be challenged and reimagined through a gender and intersectional lens. CGIA recognizes that intersectional solutions that amplify a diverse range of voices are needed to effectively address global challenges in uncertain times. As Fletcher’s longest-running student-led conference, CGIA 2024 is dedicated to the principles of inclusivity, accountability, liberation, and growth through sparking conversations across disciplines and de- and re- constructing conceptions of power in international affairs.