South Middlesex Times

Prabhjit Sandhu, a sophomore at Rutgers University-New Brunswick attending the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, sought a meaningful summer activity. He devised a project to educate inmates on improving their nutrition and preventing diabetes.

Sandhu was one of seven Rutgers students who participated in this year’s Justice Health Summer Program, a 10-week experience where participants learn from healthcare providers and other medical professionals within New Jersey's correctional system. The program includes on-site shadowing with physicians, mental health providers, and others while developing and implementing a health education project. First-year students gather data, target a health issue, and propose solutions under the guidance of mentors.

The Bordentown Township resident discovered the program through the Rutgers Handshake website. The Justice Health Summer Program was his first choice due to its healthcare focus. “It was mostly due to it being healthcare-based, and since I am a pharmacy major, that's why,” said Sandhu. “Usually, most pharmacy majors do pharmacy tech jobs or work in a hospital. I wanted to do something that was different.”

Founded in 2019 by Mansi Shah, an alumna of Rutgers-New Brunswick and former Institute for Women's Leadership Scholar, the Justice Health Summer Program initially partnered with University Correctional Health Care and the Honors College. It later expanded to include more majors through collaboration with the Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Academy (IDEA).

IDEA operates programs for first-year students contributing to interdisciplinary projects addressing societal challenges. Since 2022, students have joined the Justice Health program through IDEA.

“The idea is that we want them to do a minimum of one shadowing experience or as many as feasible,” said Veronica Armour, director of IDEA. “Given that we're dealing with the New Jersey prison system, when planning visits we are mindful of both needs of the students and prison community.”

Under the Justice Health program, students are assigned mentors within University Correctional Health Care to gather and analyze data about inmates. In Sandhu’s case, he reviewed medicine billing records with one of his mentors, a clinical pharmacist.

“It's basically built for first-year students to really get exposure ... to design and research ... and to give them an applied experience to ... help them on their journey of deciding what they want to do with their lives,” said Nicole Mendoza, a doctoral student at the School of Communication studying mental health and patient-provider communication.

Sandhu emphasized the importance of firsthand experience in correctional facilities: “It's important to have a project where you can actually shadow and actually see for yourself what it's like in a correctional facility rather than reading literature or seeing what the media has to say because it provides a completely different point of view.”

Initially drawing premedical students, the program now includes undergraduates from various schools at Rutgers. Arthur Brewer, statewide medical director of University Correctional Health Care within Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care noted that participants must conduct readings, write literature reviews, interview professionals within University Correctional Health Care "to understand the problems that are going on there," then schedule time for site visits.

Sandhu worked with two mentors: John Manning at South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton and Gregory Dix at University Correctional Health Care. Dix shared insights into daily operations and issues faced by inmates including high expenditures on antidiabetic medications.

“We realized that it’s mostly diet-based – that many inmates face diets high in sodium and carbohydrates,” Sandhu explained. The solution proposed involved educating inmates on healthier meal preparation methods.

“Our main goal was trying to find a way to help fix the diets that inmates have so they're less at risk of having these diet-related health issues,” said Sandhu.

Reflecting on his experience in correctional facilities shifted Sandhu’s perspective: “Before actually going into the correctional facility... I kind of had a negative mindset... but actually meeting with staff... I saw that it’s almost quite the opposite; inmates do receive great healthcare.”

Brewer hopes such experiences will encourage students towards careers in healthcare: “I hope they really appreciate what it is to provide care here... By having this encounter... you get a real sense of how the U.S. decides to treat vulnerable populations.”