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ASB 2010 - The Emergency Room is Closed: Exploring Socioeconomic Disparities in Los Angeles Hospitals - Los Angeles, CA

Basic Information
Application Process: 
ASB 2010
Trip Name: 
The Emergency Room is Closed: Exploring Socioeconomic Disparities in Los Angeles Hospitals - Los Angeles, CA
Air Travel Trip: 
No
Number of Participants: 
12
Trip Description: 

“She came into the hospital waiting to give birth. She had pains, but didn’t think much of it; she was pregnant after all. She went in to delivery, half coherent. She could tell something was wrong, hoping that it was just her and not her baby. A nurse yelled why hadn’t she come in for prenatal care. She said ‘I don’t have insurance.’” Our ASB will examine this issue and more. We will highlight the differences between public and private hospitals and the disparities that they present in their differences. Throughout the 10-week course we will examine the differences between the patient populations in a private hospital and a public hospital. We will also examine other differences such as: hospital placement, the economics of healthcare, services provided at each and other such topics that will help you to understand the disparities between the insured and uninsured. As part of the program, we will visit different hospitals and free clinics in Los Angeles and experience first-hand what we learned. Participants will also have the opportunity to volunteer in free clinics as a part of the course in preparation for our trip.

Trip Leaders
Yvorn Aswad

Yvorn NHK Aswad-Thomas is a junior, majoring in Human Biology. Interested in becoming a pediatrician, his concentration focuses on the health care of underserved populations and in such has volunteered with clinics that primarily service disadvantaged youth.  A native of the Great City of Los Angeles, the issues of this ASB literally hits home for him. He would like to see this ASB become the beginning of civil engagement for many students. Aside from his academic and service endeavors, he acts with the Stanford Theater Activist Mobilization Project and is a student leader in the Black Student Union.

Matthew Anderson

Matthew N. Anderson is a junior from Indianapolis, Indiana, majoring in Biology with a Concentration in Neurobiology and a Minor in Sociology at Stanford. He plans on becoming a Pediatric Neurosurgeon and starting a hospital in Botswana. He became interested in the hospital system through his volunteering in a Pediatric Emergency Room in his home state and would like to use this Alternative Spring Break as a way of both learning more about the way a hospital works and a way of getting others interested in healthcare reform. When he is not busy being a premed, he dances and choreographs for Jam Pac’d, is an active member of the Stanford NAACP, and enjoys an eclectic taste of music.