With a catchy presentation title of “Everything Good Happens After Midnight,” KU School of Medicine-Wichita third-year medical student Faith Hampton shared some healthy sleep hygiene tips during a recent Saturday morning program for teens participating in a revived Urban League of Kansas youth program.

What surprised the teens the most, Hampton said, was just how much shut-eye they should get — between eight and 10 hours, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

During the Sept. 17 presentation, participants in the Urban League’s Youth Empowerment program spent four hours interacting with and learning from KU School of Medicine-Wichita students about healthy lifestyles, as well as learning lifesaving skills.

In addition to hearing about good sleep habits from Hampton, the youth also heard about fueling their growing bodies with a healthy diet, recognizing and coping with stress, and moving their bodies through exercise for their well-being.

KU School of Medicine-Wichita was one of four community partners that provided information and training during the six-week Youth Empowerment series, which concluded Oct. 15, said Frankie Kirkendoll, director of operations for the Urban League. The Youth Empowerment series is a national program that previously had a 40-year run in Wichita until 2016.

Kirkendoll revived the program this fall. It will be offered twice a year with spring and fall sessions, she said. The other partners — the Workforce Alliance, Bank of America and WSU Tech — offered sessions on job-seeking skills, financial literacy and education, respectively.

Hampton and second-year medical student Lipi Mukherjee were asked by Julie Galliart, Ed.D, associate dean of Faculty Affairs & Development, to help plan the Healthy Lifestyles curriculum for the Youth Empowerment program. As a volunteer helping plan the league’s youth mentoring program, Galliart had suggested that one of the Youth Empowerment Saturday programs focus on healthy living.

After organizing the curriculum, Hampton and Mukherjee, a member of the campuswide Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Community Partnerships Work Group, recruited fellow students to help present the four topics.

Hampton worked with two of her fellow Family Medicine Interest Group members Jack Harrigan, third-year medical student, and Rebekah McAdam, fourth-year medical student, to develop the sleep habits presentation.

Mukherjee and fellow DEI work group member Joshua Lee, second-year medical student, talked about healthy diets, which also included addressing food deserts and how to find local resources for food.

Community Health Alliance student group members Karam Hamada, third-year medical student, and Hassan Zbeeb, second-year medical student, put together the presentation on dealing with stress that Zbeeb presented at the Urban League.

Health Career Collaborative members Kennedy Poro, third-year medical student, and Dania Jumpa, second-year medical student, developed the exercise and physical well-being section of the curriculum that Jumpa presented. The HCC is a relatively new student chapter at KU School of Medicine-Wichita that has partnered with Wichita North High School to offer a program meant to mentor, educate and inspire high school students from underrepresented and underserved communities to consider careers in health care.

After finishing their two-hour curriculum block in the morning, the presenting medical students spent another two hours assisting KU Wichita Simulation Center Program Director Erin Doyle, BSN, RN, CHSE, as she taught the group lifesaving skills, including CPR, and how to use an AED defibrillator.

Both Hampton and Mukherjee said they were keen to help organize the curriculum because of the emphasis their respective groups — Hampton’s Family Medicine Interest Group and Mukherjee’s DEI work group — have put on engaging with the community.

“Partnering with any youth group is great but especially for underserved youth,” Hampton said.

As an immigrant, Mukherjee said, she is interested in inclusion and diversity. Even more importantly, the medical school’s neighboring community shows promise and she wanted to be part of a program that could help them grow.

“If we can help them, especially the kids, we can inspire them to have a good understanding of health and help others have good health.”