Fuente Initiative

USC Pharmacy Professors Jason Doctor and Kathy Johnson wanted to reach out to neighborhood elementary schools. They initially thought of a drug abuse program. But the issue was already well covered by other organizations.

"We were looking for health problems in this community that pharmacists could deal with that weren't really addressed by other programs," Johnson said.

After some research and conversations with community representatives, the two formed the Fuente Initiative in 1999. The program, funded by a grant provided by the Good Neighbors Campaign, is a bridge between the USC School of Pharmacy and the community. Fuente is an acronym for Farmaceutico (Spanish for pharmacist) USC Education Neighborhood Total-health Effort.

Pharmacy students participating in Johnson's public health class in the fall work the booths at health fairs held at the East Los Angeles Center. Besides providing information to the community on 20 topics ranging from high cholesterol to hypertension, the fairs benefit the students.

The program is for first graders attending Murchison Street, Sheridan Street, and Griffin Avenue elementary schools, Bravo Medical Magnet High School, East Los Angeles Skills Center and East Los Angeles Occupational Center. Through a puppet show and games, the children learn that medicine isn't candy even though it may look like it.

"It seems trivial," said Cecilia Wu, a third-year pharmacy student. "But you can take simple concepts and you can reach a population that really needs it."

"We thought first graders are really a great target audience because they may be old enough to understand and work with younger siblings," Johnson said. "They aren't so old that they're saying, 'This doesn’t pertain to me.' They're not so young that they can’t pay attention."

Besides teaching the youngsters the importance of correctly identifying poisonous items in their homes, they're also interacting with future pharmacists.

The Fuente Initiative forces pharmacy students to go out into the surrounding neighborhood instead of standing behind a counter or stocking medicine. For Wu, serving the community has become an important of becoming a pharmacist and she plans to integrate it into her career.

"I do see myself participating in health fairs, going around to kindergarten classes or just talking to kids about safe sex or helping the elderly understand the side affects of drugs," she said. "I see myself continuing educating the community with my pharmacy knowledge."

The Fuente Initiative has received eight Good Neighbors grants for a total of $89,501 over eight years ($5,500 in 2007, $7,950 in 2006, $7,500 in 2005, $5,616 in 2004, $12,250 in 2003; 13,150 in 2002; $14,265 in 2001; and $23,270 in 2000).