Projects

• Community Commons

• Explorations in the Medical Humanities

  (Columbia University)

• Humanities in Medicine (HuMed)

  (University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine)

• CHCI Medical Humanities Institute: Global Health (University of Miami)

  (University of Miami)

biography

Dr. Alice Jacobs Vestergaard is an internationally published author, educator, and researcher who has over two decades of experience working with multicultural, multilingual, and multigenerational populations in diverse community and academic settings. She has had careers in both industry and higher education, and has lived and worked in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres serving marginalized populations. She has taught courses across the higher education landscape including community college, the California state university system, University of California, and several private colleges. She served on several community boards and committees in California including chair of the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce Health Committee where she led work force health initiatives, and access to care forums, and the American Lung Association Community Advisory Board. She is a recipient of the Syntex Labs Chairman’s Recognition Award for her ground –breaking work in disease management training for physicians in teaching hospitals, the VA, and HMO’s. Her specialty areas are immigrant health and gerontology where she is a leader in the emerging field of Domotics. In her free time, she is a musician and has traveled the globe in government sponsored cultural exchanges promoting peace and understanding through music. Dr. Vestergaard has developed and implemented programs in the healing arts across the age span in multiple settings including schools, park and recreation departments, and healthcare systems. While at UCLA she participated in several world music and culture groups and played the Gadulka, in a Bulgarian music ensemble. She has studied and trained in world folk dance and is a certified Sign Chi Do instructor, Certified Caritas Coach through the Watson Caring Science Institute, a Master Certified Health Education Specialist, (MCHES,) and is interested in multicultural health practices.

research interests

Curriculum Development Health Professions; Caritas infused healthcare delivery; community and public health; social change agentry