Student Engagement and Leadership Development (SELD) Team
Introduction
The Student Engagement and Leadership Development (SELD) is a faculty mentored student group within The Center for the Advancement of InterProfessional Practice, Education and Research (CAIPPER) with the goals of:
- Ensuring that students have input into CAIPPER activities,
- Providing students with a strong interest in interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional collaborative practice (ICP) with the chance to develop leadership skills, and
- Creating opportunities for students across the seven health science colleges to engage in interprofessional education and practice.
Interprofessional education (IPE) occurs when learners from two or more professions learn about, from, and with each other to collaborate more effectively. It builds teamwork, communication, and helps you understand different healthcare roles – all of which lead to better care for patients.
The Faculty Mentor for SELD is Jennifer Wescott. If there are any questions on how to get more involved, please email Ami Shah at ashah58@uic.edu.
SELD Engagement Opportunities
There are several SELD opportunities including:
Help inform IPE curriculum across the seven health science colleges
- Provide student input on current interprofessional curriculum programs/learning experiences (ex. Foundations of Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Program).
- Serve on a CAIPPER advisory committee to provide and share the student perspectives
- Opportunities to serve as peer or advanced peer facilitators
Engage with ICP in the clinical environment
- Opportunities to participate or lead debriefs during the annual interprofessional shadowing program.
Advance your leadership development skills
- Receive faculty mentorship
- Engage and plan activities that reach students across the seven health science colleges.
Address and support heath equity initatives
- Help carry out activities for students across the 7 health science college that directly tie to health equity and social justice – topics could include nutrition security, social determinants of health, burnout, student wellness, etc.
AY 2025-2026 SELD Events
-
Nutrition Pop-up Volunteer Event for Patients with Cancer
Fall 2025: Tuesday, September 30 from 7am – 2pm
Location: UI Health OCC Cancer Center 1818 W. Taylor St., Chicago, IL Radiation Oncology, Room C400
Volunteer at the Complimentary Nutrition Popup Event created for UI Health Cancer patients and others in need. Assist with set up and/or help patients select and carry their fresh & prepared food items. All students from the seven health science colleges are welcome to participate!
-
Make Blankets for the University of Illinois Cancer Center
Spring 2026: Thursday January 29 from 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Students across all seven UIC health sciences colleges are invited to participate. During this event, students will work together to make blankets that will be donated to the University of Illinois Cancer Center.
Come grab a hot drink and cookies, and donate the blanket you make to the University of Illinois Cancer Center.
-
Free Mental Health First Aid Certification Course
Spring 2026: Thursday, March 26th, 9am – 5pm.
Location: Applied Health Science Building (1919 W. Taylor St.), Room 710.
The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) teaches you how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among adults. To register, please email Toni Van Denend.
AY 2024-2025 SELD Events
About the event:
The goals of the food justice event held on April 8 included:
- Increasing participants awareness of food security,
- Discussing the importance of collaborating with community and health partners to promote food justice and equity for vulnerable populations, and
- Highlighting community driven solutions and opportunities for students to continue to stay engaged
The event brought together advocates and UIC practitioners to discuss food access, health equity, and action oriented solutions. The panel discussion was moderated by two students, Rachel Brokenshire – Physical Therapy and Adrienne Tardif – Nutrition and included our esteemed panelists:
- Dr. Evelyn Figueroa, MD – Director of Community Engagement, Family & Community Medicine
- Dr. Ann Jackson, PT, DPT, MPH – Founder of the Center for Food Equity in Medicine
- Dr. Daylan Dufelmeier, PhD, MPH – Director of the Chicago Partnerships for Human Promotion.
The event concluded with a SELD service activity where students remained after the panel to create hygiene kits and no-sew blankets that were donated to the UIC Cancer Center.
Main takeaways and resources:
- Dr. Evelyn Figueroa founded the Pilsen Food Pantry – this panty is a client choice food pantry which allows community members to choose their own culturally appropriate foods, limit waste, and select the food that will be the best possible fit for their own situation. For more information, please visit the pantry’s website: https://www.pilsenfoodpantry.com/
- Dr. Daylan Dufelmeier referenced the Garder’s Tale as recommended reading by Dr. Camara Jones.
- Panelists referenced the two-question food insecurity screening tool which includes [1]:
- “Within the past 12 months we worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more.”
- “Within the past 12 months the food we bought just didn’t last and we didn’t have money to get more.”
[1] Source: Hager, E. R., Quigg, A. M., Black, M. M., Coleman, S. M., Heeren, T., Rose-Jacobs, R., Cook, J. T., Ettinger de Cuba, S. A., Casey, P. H., Chilton, M., Cutts, D. B., Meyers A. F., Frank, D. A. (2010). Development and Validity of a 2-Item Screen to Identify Families at Risk for Food Insecurity. Pediatrics, 126(1), 26-32. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-3146.
Conclusions and advice from Dr. Evelyn Figueroa:
- “Remember why you are here and who/what you represent.
- Work on causes that matter to YOU (and learn as much as you can about them).
- Surround yourself with people who share your values.
- Celebrate victories, small and large.
- Pace yourself (because this is a marathon).”
Jennifer Wescott, OTD
Faculty Mentor UIC CAIPPER Student Engagement and Leadership Development