Center reports - 1999
1. History
The Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights at Boston Medical Center (BMC) was founded in December 1998 by Susan Akram, JD, Associate Professor of Law, Paul Geltman, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Michael A. Grodin, MD, Professor of Health Law, Psychiatry, and Socio-Medical Sciences and Community Medicine, Terrence Keane, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Alejandro Moreno, MD, Instructor of Medicine, and Linda Piwowarczyk, MD, MPH, Instructor of Psychiatry.
The Center is a collaboration of Boston Medical Center (Departments of Medicine, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Social Work, Pediatrics and Interpreter Services), Boston University (Schools of Medicine, Public Health, Dentistry, Law, and Social Work) and Global Lawyers and Physicians, a non-governmental organization.
Through an innovative model of out-patient care, the Center provides comprehensive medical, mental health, and dental care, coordinated with legal and social services for this patient population. The Center offers Adult and Pediatric Primary Care, Mental Health, Dental Care, Social Services, Legal Aid, Physical Therapy, Medical Subspecialty Consultation, Medical and Psychological Evaluations for Asylum Cases and Court Appearances.
2. Educational Activities
a. Lectures, Classes, and Conferences:
Moreno, A and Grodin MA. Caring for Refugees and Survivors of Torture � Academic Lecture
Diversity Forum, Boston Medical Center, 06/24/99
Body-Mind Series, Department of Internal Medicine, Boston Medical Center, 08/26/99
Public Health Forum, Boston University School of Public Health,10/12/99
Section of General Internal Medicine Grand Rounds, Boston Medical Center , 10/13/99
Health and Human Rights, Boston University School of Public Health, 10/19/99
Fourth Annual International Health Conference, New England Regional Medical Education Consortium, a collaborative effort by: Boston University School of Medicine, Brown University School of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, and University of Massachusetts Medical Center, 10/23/99
The International Health Group, Harvard Medical School, 12/07/99
Annas GJ and Grodin MA. Health and Human Rights � Boston University School of Public Health
Grodin MA. Health and Human Rights � Academic Lecture
Department of Medicine Grand Rounds, 11/99
Department of Psychiatry, 99
Edith Nourse Memorial Veterans Administration, Bedford, MA, 99
Piwowarczyk L, Moreno A and Grodin MA. Aiding Survivors of Torture � An Intensive Training Course Sponsored and Organized by Physicians for Human Rights, 11/20/99.
b. Publications
Moreno A and Grodin MA. The Not so Silent Marks of Torture [Journal of the American Medical Association].
c. Visits and Conferences
Moreno A. One-day visit to the Bellevue Program of Survivors of Torture, New York, 2/99.
Moreno A. Half-day visit to the Survivors International Program, San Francisco, 4/99.
Moreno A. 8th International Symposium on Torture, a four-day conference in New Delhi, 9/99.
Staff members from CVT, Minnesota, visited our center during the summer of 1999.
3. Advocacy and Prevention Activities
The Center filed Amici Curiae in Anthony Braden Bryan v. Michael Moore, Supreme Court of Florida � A case regarding the death penalty by electrocution
4. Funding Activities
Grants were submitted to the following foundations: Reebok Foundation, Azumi Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Boston University Medical Center Department of Medicine.
5. Clinical Activities
During 1999, The Center cared for 90 patients from more than 25 countries. This patient population received various services according to their needs. We present data from 50 patients who had their initial evaluation through the Adult Primary Care.
