Dartmouth Med Students Receive Fellowships for LGBTQ Mentor Program

Claremont — Two first year students at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College have received a Schweitzer Fellowship to support their mentoring program that positively influences wellness for LGBTQ and questioning youth of Sullivan County participating in Rural Outright, a program of TLC Family Resource Center.

Jacqueline Gresham and Sand Mastrangelo conceived and developed the mentoring project after becoming involved in Rural Outright and spending time with the students who participate in Rural Outright programs. The Albert Schwetizer Fellowships allow people to create and carry out sustainable community service projects to address chronic health issues as well as the underlying causes of health inequities such as poverty, the environment and education. 

“By collaborating with Rural Outright, we will expand support services available to queer youth to address the lack of LGBTQ+ mentoring programs currently available as they explore issues related to gender and sexuality,” Gresham said in a news release.

The project intends to work with 15 LGBTQ and questioning youth members of Rural Outright, a program that supports the LGBTQ youth, and their families and allies, in Sullivan County. The program will pair the Rural Outright members with LGBTQ-identified community mentors.

Students will participate in a variety of community building and identity-affirming experiences designed to enhance overall mental health and wellness, according to the fellowship application.

The mentoring project is anticipated to run for a year. Beginning in May, Gresham and Mastrangelo will begin actively recruiting students from schools throughout Sullivan County and graduate student mentors from the Dartmouth College. At the end of the first year, they will recruit new first-year students to take over the project in April 2019 and integrate it into the On-Doctoring curriculum.

The project is being overseen by mentor John Turco, MD, a professor at Geisel School of Medicine and doctor in the Endocrinology and Metabolism Dept. at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and Liza Draper, program coordinator for Rural Outright.

The mentor program will be a benefit to the Sullivan County community, helping to lift up these students who are often struggling and give them hope, according to Draper.

“I am excited to support Sand and Jaci in any way possible,” Draper said. “From my work with the students through the Gay Straight Trans Alliance groups in the middle and high schools, I see their challenges and need to connect with others LGBTQ people who are secure in their identity and successful.”