Students from Ecuador

Photo Gallery: International Students From Ecuador Explore Journalism In Connecticut

At its ninth annual week-long high school summer journalism workshop at the University of Connecticut, the Connecticut Health Investigative Team trained its first-ever group of international students – all of them from Riobamba, Ecuador. The five students – Christina Huisha, (18), Leslie Parra (17), Kevin Barahona (18), Mikaela Romo (16) and Mikaela De La Cruz (16) – had their trip sponsored by the Sister Cities International program. Riobamba is a sister city of Norwalk. Sister Cities International’s goal is to strengthen relationships around the globe based on cultural, educational, informational or trade exchanges. 

While at the summer journalism workshop on UConn’s main campus in Storrs, the other campers made them feel welcome. Brian Ruiz, Luis Mila and Danny Ruiz were three C-HIT students who helped translate and explain American customs so the students from Ecuador were never made to feel excluded.

Ecuadorian Students Participate In C-HIT’s Multimedia Journalism Workshop

As part of the Norwalk-Riobamba Sister Cities program, five high school students from Ecuador were selected to receive scholarships to attend the Connecticut Health I-Team Multimedia Journalism Workshop at the University of Connecticut. The students were chosen out of 84 kids in Riobamba, Ecuador, based on their academic excellence and community engagement. Kevin Barahona, Mikaela de la Cruz, Cristina Huisha, Leslie Parra, and Mikaela Romo studied at UConn the week of July 14. They learned how to use the 5 Ws How and when writing a news story, how to take sharp photographs using natural light on their smart phones and to record, edit and produce a podcast and video stories. The students also had the opportunity to be immersed in the American culture and make new friends.

Teens Gain Experience With Help Of Journalism Pros

This year at the University of Connecticut, 22 teenagers, ages 16 and older, participated in the Conn. Health I-Team multimedia journalism workshop. They are receiving advice on investigative reporting, how to report and write new stories, and basic digital journalism, for example podcasting, shooting and editing videos with professional instructors. Since 2011, the Conn. Health I-Team has hosted high school journalism camps and close to 300 students.

Medical Board Disciplines Six Doctors

The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday disciplined six doctors, including fining a Norwalk doctor $5,000 for prescribing high doses of opioids to a prison inmate and other patients without proper safeguards. The board also suspended the license of a family medicine physician from Westport, saying his excessive drinking of alcohol presents a “clear and immediate danger” to the public. In the Norwalk case, the board also reprimanded Dr. Martin Perlin and limited his ability to prescribe painkillers. Between 2013 and 2015, Perlin prescribed high doses of opioids without adhering to standard safeguards, state Department of Public Health records show. One of the patients was incarcerated during the time that Perlin prescribed drugs for him, the records show.

Brand-name Drug Choices Drive State’s High Medicare Costs

Connecticut seniors on Medicare are more likely to take sedatives for insomnia and medications for depression than their counterparts across the country, according to a new report by Dartmouth researchers. An analysis of state data in a national report by the Dartmouth Atlas Project also shows that Connecticut’s Medicare program relies heavily on brand-name drugs, versus generics, especially in wealthy towns in Fairfield County – a factor that could be contributing to the state’s ranking in the top 10 nationally in prescription drug spending per patient. Connecticut seniors spent an average of $2,795 on medications in 2010 – 45 percent higher than the lowest-spending state, Minnesota, and the highest rate in New England. The new report provides an in-depth look at how prescription drugs are used by Medicare beneficiaries, age 65 and older, in the program’s Part D drug benefit, which had 37 million enrollees in 2012. It shows wide variations in the use of both effective and risky drugs among the 306 regional health care markets across the U.S.

While the underlying health status of populations is a factor in prescription drug use, “it really does not explain the variations in drug use intensity that we observed,” said Dr. Nancy Morden, a lead author of the study.