UofL med students use education to empower Louisville's youth affected by violence

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The University of Louisville's School of Medicine held its commencement ceremony Saturday, and two of those graduates devoted their free time for years to educating children affected by gun violence for a local nonprofit.

Dr. Orion Rushin and Dr. Manting Xu are two of the medical minds behind the Future Healers program. Local nonprofit Christopher 2X Game Changers leads the program in partnership with UofL Hospital's Trauma Institute and students at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. The goal of the program is to help Louisville children who have been impacted by violence in their neighborhoods to build a better future.

Rushin and Xu, both from Louisville, were introduced to the program as they started medical school in 2021. The Future Healers program is an educational initiative that introduces children to medicine and science as a way to provide opportunity and learning to to youth.

"Medical school can be very difficult, it can be very hard, it can be very stressful," Rushin said. "While you're in the midst of studying, taking exams, quizzes, you can lose your 'why,' and so for me connecting back to Future Healers was able to allow me to find my 'why' again."

The program for children between the ages of 4 to 13 years old gave the medical students the chance to show kids their futures could include stethoscopes and surgeries, and not the streets.

"I wanted to be in medicine, I was looking for a role model or somebody in a position because truth be told there are not a lot of Black women or Black people in general, in medicine," Rushin said. "So being able to see that example or become that example that I wanted in my youth has been remarkable."

Rushin and Xu also helped create the Future Healers Journey to Wellness Personal Journal. It's a 100-page book that blends fun and learning activities for a unique resource that focuses on wellness and health sciences.

The book starts with firearm, burn and fire safety tips. Then it focuses on wellness by highlighting the importance of vitamins and nutrients, sleep and relaxing, among other topics. Each section ends with a journal entry. The book also has a section on coping strategies before focusing on the human body. 

"It's an awesome book that has really taken off and I think we've seen so much that can be taken from it, students can go home and learn from it, teachers can teach it in the classroom," Xu said. "It's something we didn't know how far it was going to go, but we're really excited to see the impact it's had in the community."

The lessons learned have left a lasting impact on the children participating in the program.

"It's always amazing to see how much the students learn," Xu said. "And how much they are excited to learn about it and how much they remember from all the lessons."

While the Rushin and Xu have given their time, knowledge and effort to the program, they've also gotten something in return.

"In a lot of ways we don't really think about it, but medicine is about being a good communicator and being able to tell your patients what's going on and being able to tell it clearly," Xu said. "I think in the same way, when we're teaching our students here in the Future Healers, you use the same skills. We're teaching them in ways that they understand and they can grasp it. And also in a way that's accurate and it's something that they can take with them for the rest of their lives."

When the Future Healers program started in July 2021, it had 25 participants. It has since grown into a multi-state initiative with more than 800 children involved in the program.

In 2023, the program expanded to Nashville with doctors from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and nonprofit Stronger Than My Father to help form The Future is NOW (Non-violent Options Win).

Last fall, it expanded to three JCPS elementary schools to expose more students to health sciences. Earlier this year, the program expanded to Bardstown, the first rural expansion in the state.

"It's amazing," Rushin said. "When you're able to reflect on where we started and where we are now, it's amazing that something so positive can spread like wildfire."

While Rushin and Xu move onto residency, they'll still stay involved with Christopher 2X Game Changers. They're specialty medical advisors for the nonprofit. 

To learn more about Christopher 2X Game Changers, click here.

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