Physician Encourages Youth to Reach for the Stars

For the past two years, Rick Badillo, M.D., a recent graduate of the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, and his wife Crystal Badillo, a Jefferson High School teacher, have been organizing a health fair for El Paso elementary school students.

In addition to the health fair, Rick Badillo and his wife coordinate a mentor program with Jefferson High School students. They work in collaboration with Paul L. Foster School of Medicine students who volunteer to go to the high school and help students with their college plans.

“A lot of these kids have parents who have never gone through the college process,” Crystal Badillo said. “I love seeing my students have so much and think about their future and not just the here and now.”

In addition to mentoring, medical students help the high school students put together presentation boards and games for the health fair.

This year, the health fair took place at Burleson Elementary in El Paso, where topics such as healthy nutrition, first aid, height, weight and exercise were demonstrated to children.

Herb Janssen, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Medical Education, is unofficially involved in the health fair.

“It is a great opportunity for the medical students to reach out to the local high school, which in turn reaches out to the elementary school, tripling the reward,” Janssen said.

Caleb Janosz, a second-year medical student, was one of the mentors for this year’s program.

“The health fair is a good experience for the kids to come out and be exposed to nutrition and how to live a healthy lifestyle,” Janosz said.