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A Neighborhood Needby Dana Benson
The first-ever Community Health Day, held at the city-run Lyons Avenue Health Center, yielded a better-than-expected response, serving more than 200 Fifth Ward residents. The event offered adults and children free services such as glucose testing; blood pressure checks; HIV, tuberculosis and Hepatitis C screenings; hearing tests; dental services; skin-cancer screenings; and instructions for women on performing self breast exams. Promoting follow-up care was an equally important component of the event. "We didn't want to just offer a test and then say to people, 'Here's your results, bye,'" Landa said. "We gave them referrals for follow-up appointments, or the organizations that provided services arranged for follow-up care."
"Our goal was not just to provide care, but to jump start people into getting into a regular health care home," Landa said. Landa and Modi worked with clinic manager Algia Hickenbotham to determine what services the neighborhood needed most. Diabetes is a major concern for the area's residents, so glucose testing for adults and children and care for people with the disease proved to be among the most widely used services. Women are concerned about breast cancer, and many of them signed up for free mammograms through the nonprofit organization Y-Me.
Landa conceived of the event as a way to get medical students more involved in the community. She quickly enlisted Modi as co-chair, and they began preparations a year prior to the event. About 10 medical students hopped on board as organizers with roughly 70 student volunteers in tow, including some from the physician assistant program, who conducted screenings and helped patients prepare family medical histories. "I think we really made a big difference," said Anurabha Rao, a first-year physician assistant student. "Almost everyone who came in the clinic that day had their blood pressure tested. There were several people who had extremely high blood pressure, and they were just shocked. They wouldn't have known what to do next, but we were able to provide information about what their next step should be."
Landa and Modi hope to expand the event in 2007, offering more stations for glucose screenings, diabetic foot care, vision tests, cholesterol checks and prostate cancer screenings. They recently gave a presentation about the event to the BSA, and starting next year it will become an official event of the student organization. It's a worthy project, they say, not just because of the experience it offers students, but also because it reconnects them with the reasons they chose to go to medical school in the first place. |
Patient CarePutting the Pieces Together: Megan's Story When Baby Heart Patients Grow Up Saying Goodnight to Sleeping Pills ResearchFrom a Sister's Illness... A Cancer Crusade EducationCommunity ServiceAlumni & DevelopmentBRASS Connections Help Students Soar College NewsPhysician Hall of Fame: College Receives One-of-a-Kind Signature Collection
People Working Together to Achieve Greatness
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Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2007 |
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| Last modified: April 24, 2007 |
Like yin and yang, Whitney Landa and Payal Modi have a habit of finishing each other's sentences. The two second-year medical students also work in tandem, as when they organized a charity clinic in October to provide screenings and health information to some of Houston's neediest residents.
Information also was offered on how and where to receive ongoing medical care. Organizations were on hand to help people apply for subsidized insurance programs, and a referral packet included details on low-cost and free health care and information on other services, like addiction counseling.
The Baylor Student Association (BSA), American Medical Student Association and the Oncology Interest Group provided financial backing for the event, and Walgreens was also a major contributor. Other organizations involved included the Texas Liver Foundation, the Montrose Counseling Center, the Center for Speech and Hearing and The University of Texas Dental School Hispanic Student Dental Association
For all their success, the organizers faced some initial obstacles, like identifying an appropriate location and securing the necessary services. "Since it was the first year, people weren't sure it would be successful," Landa said. But, Modi added, every organization that was involved has asked to return next year.