CDU Student Names Winner in UCLA Health Equity Challenge
Angelica Johnsen, 4th year CDU/UCLA Medical Education Program student, was named a winner in the MolinaCares Accord – UCLA Health Equity Challenge. The inaugural competition provides UCLA and CDU/UCLA graduate students the opportunity to respond to a health equity issue in California.
Johnsen’s project focused on a de-escalation toolkit for medical providers working with patients who are experiencing mental health crises, providing guidance on de-escalating high-acuity mental health crises and stabilizing patients who are in distress without correctional measures.
She was one of two winners selected by a five-member Independent Review Committee of leading California health care and equity leaders. Johnsen identified CDU as the community organization she will partner with and the University will be awarded $50,000 to implement her proposed project. Johnsen will also receive an additional $2,500 to continue to document the impact of her project’s implementation.
“I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the people involved with the UCLA/MolinaCares Health Equity Challenge saw my hope for the community as an initiative worth investing in, because this award is a testament to the fact that there are supporters for this labor of love,” said Johnsen.
During her time in medical school, Johnsen has enrolled patients into health insurance, advocated for the rights of formerly incarcerated patients, volunteered with the LA Community Fridges project, and researched the expansion of Medicaid coverage for psychiatric medications.