AIDS Outreach (AIDSO) Program History
In the fall semester of 1996, AIDSO began as a community AIDS outreach pilot program.
AIDSO was designed by Vanderbilt University medical and graduate students working together to
design a program for Nashville area youths. Since its inception, the program has been providing
information about HIV and AIDS to local area schools. The principal goals of AIDSO are:
(1) to provide HIV and AIDS education to local Nashville high school and middle school students, and
(2) provide the participating medical, nursing, and graduate students with a broadened view of the
importance of teaching and community service in the biomedical career. It is our belief that
imparting information regarding the manner in which HIV is transmitted, the myths of HIV and AIDS,
methods to prevent the spread of HIV, as well as first hand interaction with HIV+ individuals will
provide an excellent foundation for students grappling with many tough, and risky, situations.
The program has been fortunate to have many excellent faculty advisors. Terry Dermody, professor of
Pediatrics and Microbiology and Immunology and director of the Elizabeth B. Lamb Center for Pediatric
Research, provided strong leadership in the organization from 1996 until 1999. Lewis Lefkowitz,
professor of Preventive Medicine, performed in an advisory capacity for AIDSO in 2000.
Gail Addlestone, one of the original medical student founders and now in private Pediatric practice
in Nashville, was the AIDSO faculty adviser in 2001. Richard D.Aquila, Director of Infectious Diseases
and the Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), became the faculty advisor in September 2002.
In 2003, Victoria Harris, Director of Education for the Comprehensive Care Center, joined Rich D.Aquila
as a faculty advisor for the program.
In addition, there have been multiple student teams that have led the AIDSO program over the years:
- 1999-2001: Lisan Parker and Erik Prentice.
- 2001-2004: Melody Davis, Kyra Richter, and Raul Camacho.
- 2004-: Brenna Simons, Joseph Conrad, and Michael Vetter.
Programs such as AIDSO specifically targets a population that is at high risk for the contraction of STDs,
including HIV. In 2001, more than 6,000 young people worldwide aged 15-24 became infected with HIV every
day - that is, about four every minute
(
AIDS Epidemic Update: December 2001 UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS).
This program was created to address this educational need in a format that is informative and
non-threatening for the middle-school and high-school student.
The outreach curriculum consists of 4 sessions. During session one, trainers introduce the students to the
basics of HIV using a transmission game and a HIV Facts [true/false] worksheet. In the second session,
students have an opportunity to listen to the first hand account of the impact of HIV from an HIV-infected
person or family member, followed by a question and answer session. Session three reviews the biology of HIV
and the immune system, followed by an interactive game to test the students' retention of the previously
covered material. Finally, in the fourth session, students are encouraged to assess the risk of various
situations, role-play through potentially risky scenes, and discuss the importance of the peer group and
society in decision making. The AIDSO curriculum was approved by the state to qualify as the module on
HIV education mandated for 7
th and 10
th grade.
When high school students were asked if the information and discussions in this outreach program changed
the way they think about HIV/AIDS and if these discussions would alter their choices in the future to
protect themselves from HIV, eighty-two percent said "Yes" and eighteen percent replied "No."
Of those eighteen percent, about half responded that they already knew that they needed to protect themselves.
The funding of this program is dependent on both university and outside grants. The funding supports
the program in both the education of the students and the training of the outreach leaders. In all,
we educate over 500 students a year and travel to multiple schools in a 10 mile radius of Vanderbilt
University. We also provide the option to schools farther away to travel to Vanderbilt for the training,
which has been very successful.
AIDSO Program Accomplishments
- 8 years of commitment to the students of Middle Tennessee
- Reached over 4,000 middle and high school students
- Trained over 200 medical, graduate, and undergraduate students
- Have provided education to well over 10 schools in the Nashville area