Council supports students in the health sciences

The UIC Health Professions Student Council, a liaison organization between health professional students, student organizations and the university, features representatives from each of the health sciences colleges.

“We advocate for the student body and appoint students to university and campuswide committees to represent the interest of the health professional student body,” said Salmah Abdulbaseer, a third-year medical student and president of HPSC.

The group includes one or two students from each of the health sciences colleges and is led by faculty adviser Linda Deanna, associate vice chancellor for student affairs and dean of students. Members first join their respective college’s student government and are then appointed or elected to the council. 

During their monthly meetings, members of the council share events happening in their colleges, present project grant or initiative opportunities and more. The group also provides funding for health sciences student governments, student travels and student organization’s interprofessional projects.  

“This year, we created a ‘needs assessment’ to determine what are the biggest issues for students currently and have been able to present the results to UIC administration and individual school deans,” Abdulbaseer said.

The council is also working on obtaining feedback from students on mental health initiatives and creating a health sciences marketing campaign.

“We really want to reinforce interprofessional decision-making and problem-solving, while also acting as a sort of think tank to solve issues for our campus,” Abdulbaseer said. “If anybody would like to present their student/community organization’s work or talk to us about specific concerns, we’d love to hear from you.”

Students can email uic.hpsc@gmail.com to voice concerns or set up a virtual meeting with the council.