A heartfelt mazal tov to Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy upper school students Hannah Bahar and Tamar Links for their recent publication in the Medical Literacy Initiative’s online journal. Both students are part of the organization’s Medical Scholars Program.

Hannah wrote a presentation about food insecurity that was published last week. She chose the topic based upon a personal interest. “Nutrition and food insecurity have always been one of my key concerns, so it was a great way to put a topic that is important to me into words that I knew would be understandable to others.”

Tamar crafted her presentation about the human immune system. “With so much interest in autoimmune diseases, as they impact so many people, I found this an interesting way to summarize a lot of detailed and complicated information, so that it would be less overwhelming for readers.”

The Medical Literacy Initiative is a physician-led initiative with a mission to increase the accessibility of medical knowledge and research. All efforts are rooted in a desire to educate the public about basic health topics. Research has shown that medical literacy is associated with improved health outcomes, and having accessible medical knowledge allows people to lead healthier lifestyles and is fundamental in making informed medical decisions.

The Medical Scholars Program enables high school and undergraduate students to learn medicine, understand medical research and become involved in various projects related to accessible medical language.