The Development and Implementation of Preventive Medicine Resident Rotations in a Shelter Serving Asylum-Seekers at the US-Mexico Border

Abstract

Asylum-seekers present to the US-Mexico border with a variety of acute health needs. In December 2018, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency partnered with the University of California, San Diego to provide health screenings to asylum-seekers at a humanitarian shelter administered by Jewish Family Services. The assessments screened for communicable diseases and acute conditions. Preventive medicine residents in the HRSA-funded UCSD-SDSU (University of California, San Diego-San Diego State University) Residency were trained to become an integral part of the program. Training included cultural competency, public health interface, protocol development and implementation, interdisciplinary teamwork, and quality improvement. Over 18 months, nearly 20000 asylum-seekers were screened, which allowed for the detection of an imported influenza outbreak and prevented any major public health incidents or medical errors. This health screening program for asylum-seekers provided an important experience for preventive medicine trainees. In turn, preventive medicine and other trainees were valuable contributors to the program.