BALSO Programs

There are many opportunities to volunteer in Washington Heights and the surrounding neighborhoods.

GIRLTALK is a sex education program founded about five years ago by a former Family Medicine resident here at Columbia who conducted a community needs assessment in the Bronx and found there is a real need for further sex education. Family Medicine residents educate high school girls about their bodies, reproduction, contraception, and safe sex practices in an open forum where the high school students can ask questions. Two years after the start of GIRLTALK, the Family Medicine Minority Caucus developed GUYTALK to address the sex-ed needs of high school boys. Starting last year, BALSO students helped run GIRLTALK and GUYTALK.

Both programs take place in John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, an area with high teen pregnancy rates. The goal of the programs is to reduce pregnancy and STI rates by education the young women and men who participate in the program. It also provides medical students an excellent opportunity to reach out. In Salon Health Outreach Program (SHOP), BALSO students and Family Medicine residents go to a hair salon in Washington Heights to give women an informal presentation about a ranging health topics from contraception to nutrition. After the brief presentation, the residents and students go around and talk with the women in the salon and answer any questions they may have. We will also be organizing various smaller community service programs. Stay tuned.

MAPS

BALSO works with the Columbia University chapter of the Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students (MAPS). This program, which is a part of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) brings together underrepresented minority college students interested in a career in medicine. As a chapter of SNMA, BALSO members mentor individual students in MAPS throughout the year and strive to be resources for MAPS members.

GIRL TALK/GUY TALK

GIRLTALK is a sex education program founded about five years ago by a former Family Medicine resident here at Columbia who conducted a community needs assessment in the Bronx and found there is a real need for further sex education. Family Medicine residents educate high school girls about their bodies, reproduction, contraception, and safe sex practices in an open forum where the high school students can ask questions. Two years after the start of GIRLTALK, the Family Medicine Minority Caucus developed GUYTALK to address the sex-ed needs of high school boys. BALSO students have helped run GIRLTALK and GUYTALK.

SHOP

In Salon Health Outreach Program (SHOP), BALSO students and Family Medicine residents go to a hair salon in Washington Heights to give women an informal presentation about a ranging health topics from contraception to nutrition. After the brief presentation, the residents and students go around and talk with the women in the salon and answer any questions they may have.