Longtime readers will recall that students in the , as well as the and , have been involved in since its inception (see and ). Created in 2016 as a joint program of the (formerly the Center for Education and Public Initiatives), , and the , Teen Health Week is an annual event that seeks to raise awareness of the unique health issues facing teens. What began in 2016 as Pennsylvania Teen Health Week has rapidly expanded into a global health initiative.
Recently, the newest cohort of the Karabots Junior Fellows Program met with to talk about issues related to teen health and introduce them to the tenets of Teen Health Week. Dr. Offutt has a background in internal medicine, is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and was the chief driving force behind the creation of Teen Health Week. She is also the founder of Real Talk with Dr. Offutt, an accurate, judgment-free health resource for teens. Subjects she addressed with the class included , , and the risk of sexual assault on college campuses. Later in the semester, the students will help develop an informational toolkit for Teen Health Week 2018 related to mental health.
Teen Health Week 2018 will take place March 18-24, 2018. For more information about THW and how you can get involved, check out our official Teen Health Week website or follow #teenhealth2018 on or .