After five months of preparation, students in the Physician Assistant Program provided a free health clinic on Oct. 22 at the Children’s Center to help inform families about preventative health strategies and information on conditions like diabetes and sexually transmitted diseases.
It was the second year that the free health clinic was offered by the PAP students, who wanted to impact the community more than last year.
“The main goal is to provide health education to participants of the Children’s Center and the surrounding area,” said Stephanie Gilkey, the program’s director.
The clinic offered a variety of information including nutrition, hypertension, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, exercise, diabetes, sickle cell, and sexually transmitted diseases, among other medical issues.
The students stressed how they tried to express the information so that anyone could understand, and everyone who attended would be well informed.
With more than 70 students working in the clinic, many of them were at different
stages in their education. Most of them were first- or second-year students. The first-year students contributed to the clinic by developing their own area to talk to the public about diseases. Second-year students were mainly volunteers who enjoyed their experience from the previous year, contributing veteran knowledge.
“Before I was a PA (Physical Assistant) student, I was a registered dietician and I worked in kidney dialysis, and I worked with obesity,” said Shannon Webster, a physician assistant studies student. “So I feel that it’s very important to understand how the everyday decisions have a long term impact on your health, and how different lifestyle changes can significantly impact you.”
Jamie Williams, another student in the program, said, “And we are also giving resources; the resources where to go when they need something.”
On the other side of the spectrum, students also manage to apply what they have learned in the classroom to the health fair.
“This is considered service learning,” Gilkey said. “The students have spent many months learning about how to provide health education and the importance of it.”
Be the first to comment on this article!