Project Ideas

Here are just a few examples of the numerous projects students have undertaken to promote CHIP at their schools and in their communities. For more information on a particular project, please contact the Department of Medical Student Services. Good luck planning your CHIP project!

Texas Medical Students "Taking Care of Kids"
Over 40 medical students representing all eight medical schools in Texas and the AMA’s National House Call, a grassroots effort that has been on the road since 1999 calling attention to important health care issues and informing candidates and policymakers on critical issues, converged at the Northeast Austin Community Health Center to host an enrollment drive for CHIP in February 2001. Free popcorn and balloons were distributed along with TexCare (Texas State CHIP) information. "Taking Care of Kids Day" gave students an opportunity to talk with families about free or low cost health insurance for their children. In addition to outreach, families were assisted with the application process. By partnering with the AMA, Texas Medical Association (TMA), City of Austin, Travis and Williamson Counties, Texas Health and Human Services, and Texas Department of Health, students hope to increase children’s access to healthcare across Texas.

A press conference highlighted the daylong effort by the TMA’s medical student members to sign up uninsured Austin children for CHIP. Nancy H. Nielsen, M.D., Vice Speaker of the AMA House of Delegates, and Jim Rohack, M.D., TMA President, announced proposals to provide health insurance coverage to more than 42 million uninsured Americans, including 10 million children. Texas medical students were proud to play such a vital role in ensuring the well being of children.

Superbowl Sunday Event
Albert Einstein College of Medicine students had an outreach event at Pathmark Supermarket in the Bronx, a high volume grocery store that neighbors the medical school. The event was strategically coordinated on Superbowl Sunday in the midst of large crowds and excited shoppers. Two information tables were staffed by medical students who answered specific questions for families and filled out referrals for completing the Child Health Plus/Medicaid application. A group of 20 medical students stood by the doors and targeted the shoppers exiting the store. The medical students distributed buttons, candy, stickers, and the various promotional materials. Some students kept the children occupied with face painting while others spoke directly to the parents about health insurance for their children. Parents were then led to the information table to fill out a referral to complete the application. A total of 12 referrals were completed!

Information for Immigrants
A collaboration between Yale School of Medicine students and the Department of Social Services addressed the concerns of immigrant families and assisted in the completion of the HUSKY, Connecticut’s S-CHIP program, application. The collaboration resulted in the creation of an official flyer that will be available around New Haven. A focus group made up of New Haven parents who have enrolled in HUSKY through this collaboration reviewed the flyer.

K-Mart Outreach Event
Medical students from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the NYU School of Medicine participated in an outreach event at Kmart in Manhattan. Over 70 Kmarts throughout New York State have joined with the Children’s Defense Fund to conduct an in-store promotion campaign designed to increase public awareness about the availability of free or low-cost health insurance for all families. This project was strictly an outreach event, and medical students were available on-site to answer questions and raise awareness about CHIP. Medical students in bright scrub tops were visible throughout the store and at the front entrance passing out brochures and pins that encouraged everyone to spread the word about the CHIP.

Children’s Museum of Manhattan
Thirty medical students around New York State (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, and New York Medical College) participated in an outreach event at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) in New York City. The CMOM event, sponsored by the Child Health Now! coalition, was publicized via posters in English and Spanish in order to attract the target population. The CMOM hosted the Body Odyssey exhibit, which was a hands-on, fun exhibit for children to learn about the workings of their body organs and ways to stay healthy and active. Families enjoyed the museum free and had the opportunity to learn about the important steps to insuring their children’s health. Medical students were on-site in their scrubs carrying their stethoscope so that they were easily visible and approachable. They performed the following functions throughout the day of the event:

• Intervened with families before they entered the museum in order to inform them about CHIP and asking them to fill out an information card.
• Provided families with a Child Health Now! bag that contains more information on the Child Health Plus program, along with information on income and other eligibility requirements, information on what Child Health Plus covers, and information on participating insurers based on region.
• Hosted a table at the museum with more information on Medicaid and Child Health Plus. Medical students were available to answer more specific and detailed questions for individual families about health insurance, including information on financial eligibility for Medicaid and Child Health Plus, information on filling out the application and documentation requirements, and information for immigrants.
• Distributed Child Health Plus Frisbees and other gifts as another tactic to approach and educate families about CHIP.
• Answered medical questions about exercise, immunizations, diet, and being a doctor for families throughout the day.

Kids Connection Outreach Project
The Creighton and University of Nebraska Medical Schools combined forces to conduct a two-day, outreach event for Nebraska Kids Connection. Volunteers from both schools participated all weekend at two Omaha malls, which are very busy on the weekends. One of the malls is a favorite of an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse group of patrons. Voices for Children in Nebraska, a non-profit group that operates with a large grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation expressly for the purpose of advancing the cause of children’s health insurance in Nebraska, generously provided brochures, children’s games, fun prizes, and good advice. Over the two days, an estimated 150 families were spoken to and 50 applications were distributed to interested families. Children’s games, prizes, and candy helped attract kids and their parents to the outreach booth.

Kid Care
Kid Care is a new program at the AMA-MSS University of Florida College of Medicine (UF) chapter designed to bring fun and laughter to local Gainesville families while encouraging health insurance coverage for all children. UF students set up a "Kid Care" booth at the local mall, Oaks Mall, as part of the region-wide program, "Safe Kids Fair," hosted by the Alachua County Kids Coalition, Shands at UF, and the Alachua County Fire and Police Departments. The fair is held annually at the Oaks Mall to teach children fire safety.

The "Kid Care" booth featured face painting, balloon animals, finger painting, toys, games, and much more for kids to play with. While the kids were busy having fun, the UF students were discussing with their parents free insurance for their kids. The UF AMA-MSS chapter hopes to continue their "Kid Care" program and encourage other members and classmates to participate.

Covering Kids Registration Drive
Twenty-five medical students from Mayo Medical School held a registration drive for Minnesota Cares-Covering Kids program at the Rochester Super Wal-Mart. The students set up tables for parents to fill out the registration form, another for snack and drinks, and another for arts and crafts activities for the children, such as face painting, picture frame making, coloring, and creating balloon animals. They also handed out balloons with Minnesota Cares application forms tied to them. Local businesses donated several items, including drinks, children’s toys, popcorn machine, and tables and chairs.

Prior to the event, students increased awareness in the community by distributing flyers about their event to the Salvation Army, YMCA, Planned Parenthood, Channel One Food Bank, and local schools, churches, and convenience stores. In addition, three television news stations (local affiliates of Fox, NBC, and ABC) filmed the event throughout the day and interviewed many of the people involved. All of this contributed to a very successful event. The students distributed over 200 Covering Kids flyers, 100 football cards with Covering Kids information on the backside, and 75 applications.

"CHIP Fellows"
Medical students at the New York Medical College (NYMC) have been working towards integrating CHIP outreach and enrollment into the medical school curriculum for third year medical students in the Pediatrics clerkship. Medical student organizers coordinated efforts with the NYMC administration, the Pediatrics clerkship director, and the hospitals affiliated with NYMC to create medical student "CHIP Fellows" at all the hospitals. During the Pediatrics clerkship, students are trained as facilitated enrollers for CHIP. They are trained in answering patient’s questions about CHIP and can assist families in filling out the applications for Child Health Plus. The "CHIP Fellows" are enlisted with the Pediatrics ward and emergency rooms at all of the NYMC affiliates, and are notified when uninsured children visit the hospital system.

CHIP Pins on your White Coats
Students at Cornell Medical College passed out CHIP pins to the entire third year class, and encouraged students to wear the pins on their white coats in the hospital. By wearing the pins, they were able to effectively get the word out to physicians and other health professionals, social workers, and families. Since many studies on CHIP indicated the program was underutilized primarily due to the simple lack of awareness that the program existed, students at Cornell felt that this was an ideal way to make CHIP an important part of the busy medical student’s everyday life!

Happy Halloween
Medical students at SUNY Downstate organized a large CHIP event on Halloween day. Students invited children in their Brooklyn community to the dormitories of the university to celebrate Halloween. This provided children with a safe and fun environment to go trick-or-treating. The students provided the children with treats, as well as stickers, buttons, pencils, and other items that publicized CHIP. They also provided the parents with brochures and information on how to enroll their children into Child Health Plus or Medicaid.

Jumpstart KidsFest 2001
Medical students from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, in conjunction with Aetna U.S. Healthcare and the University of Pittsburgh’s Program for Health Care to Underserved Populations, handed out information about CHIP and tried to enroll families that attended Wal-Mart’s KidFest venue. The festival was geared towards preschool children and their families, in attempt to have these children develop social and language skills necessary for success later in school. The students manned several "learning stations," including bubble blowing, book making, and kite-making/flying. Student volunteers spoke to numerous families and enrolled seven in the program.

"On Your Mark, Get Set…CHIP"
The students at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri organized a 12-hour relay race competition among medical school classes to raise awareness about the local CHIP program. Educational materials were distributed and the runners’ shirts mentioned CHIP. The event received print and television media coverage.