Teams comprised of graduate students from Appalachian State University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Winston-Salem State University, Wake Forest University and the Wake Forest School of Medicine will tackle health-disparities issues in the inaugural Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity (MACHE) Bowl.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 29, at the Benton Convention Center on West Fifth Street in downtown Winston-Salem. A reception will follow the competition.
The MACHE Bowl will feature three interdisciplinary teams of grad students from the various schools who will attempt to "solve" a complex health-disparities case developed by a group of faculty members representing different academic fields. The core of the case will be presented to the teams at a pre-event orientation session. During the event, the teams will receive additional information about the case and will have to respond to a set of pre-determined questions in front of a live audience.
The faculty members who developed the case will judge the teams on the quality and clarity of their responses and their use of interdisciplinary approaches.
"The goal of the MACHE Bowl is to demonstrate the importance of interdisciplinary thinking with regard to health issues," said Bettina M. Beech, professor of social science and health policy at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and co-director of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity, the event's organizing sponsor. "The participating students should benefit from the experience of collaborating with peers from other fields of study and different schools, and they should have some fun, too."
Each team will include a representative from Appalachian State's Department of Social Work, UNC Greensboro's Department of Public Health Education, Winston-Salem State's Division of Nursing and Wake Forest's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, School of Law, School of Business, School of Divinity, School of Medicine and Ce3nter for Bioethics, Health and Society.
Denise Franklin, general manager of public radio station 88.5 WFDD, will serve as host for the event.
The competition's format is based on an event first held in 1992 at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.
The inaugural MACHE Bowl is being made possible through funding support from Johnson & Johnson.
Additional information can be obtained by calling (336) 713-7600, sending an email to mache@wakehealth.edu or visiting www.wakehealth.edu/mache.
Media Relations
Megan Lee: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587
Chad Campbell: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587