CHIUS: Community Health Initiative by UBC Students

The Community Health Care Initiative by UBC Students (CHIUS) aims to provide interdisciplinary primary health care, community services referral and provision of information to DTES/inner city residents. The program objectives include:

To provide UBC health care students with exposure to the complex social issues of an underserviced, inner-city environment including alternative lifestyle choices, poverty, addiction, HIV/AIDS and so forth. In doing so, CHIUS aims to instil better understanding of such issues in future health care providers and improve long term service to members of such communities.

• To make efforts to improving the health of the DTES community by creating and sustaining a multidisciplinary community health outreach program. CHIUS will provide service to fill existing and recognized community needs.
• To encourage students in the field of health care to learn a “teach approach” to health care delivery.
• To provide UBC students the experience to develop, maintain and administrate a health care delivery program and multidisciplinary education program.
• To learn to be open-minded, respectful, empathetic and supportive towards patients.
• To act as patient advocates within the health care system. This includes outreach activities that involve active listening to community needs and responding within the capability of the program.

CHIUS is based upon Service Learning whereby a balance is created between the provision of needed services and learning experiences for students.

Naomi Glick, Student, UBC Medicine Class of 2002

CHIUS Steering Committee:

Katherine Smart, Student, UBC Medicine Class of 2001
Steven Mathias, Student, UBC Medicine Class of 2001
David Shu, Student, UBC Medicine Class of 2001
Janel Middelkamp, Student, UBC Medicine Class of 2002
Gary Bloch, Student, UBC Medicine Class of 2002
Peter Granger, Downtown South Clinic
C. Looke, Faculty of Medicine