HealthFest Helps Families and Students Alike

On Saturday, August 20, the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine Student Community Health Initiative (SCHI) hosted HealthFest at the Wilson Park Recreation Center in Temple.

Organized by first- and second-year medical students at the College of Medicine Temple campus, the annual family-oriented event offered immunizations for underinsured and uninsured children and free health screenings for all ages, including glucose and cholesterol screenings, blood pressure and body mass index checks.

Sports physicals were offered to middle school and high school athletes and were provided by physician faculty members and medical students.

According to Joey Carlin, SCHI President and second-year student, more than 100 children received immunizations, 95 received sports physicals, and hundreds of adults were screened for body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels.

The younger crowd enjoyed a bounce house, face painting and a teddy bear giveaway.

“Health Fest was truly an awesome opportunity to serve and apply some of the things we learned during the first few weeks of medical school,” said first-year student Sam Han.  “It was amazing to finally serve the community through the clinic.”

“Most importantly, I enjoyed interacting with the patients from all around Temple and Belton and loved really connecting with each family,” he said.  “It was satisfying knowing we were providing a much needed service to our community here in Temple.

“I value the experience I gained from HealthFest, as the opportunity to administer immunizations to children was meaningful and educational,” said first-year student LeeAnne Feher.  “It was exciting to serve my new community in this capacity, which truly makes a difference in the health and well-being of the youth in this area.”

SCHI holds regular immunization clinics the last Tuesday of every month for underinsured children through the Texas Vaccines for Children program.  The October clinic will be at Martha’s Clinic at 601 S. Seventh St. in Temple.  All other immunization clinics will be at Body of Christ Community Clinic at 2210-B Holland Rd. in Belton.

In addition to offering its free services, SCHI promotes healthy lifestyles among families and informs community members about local, health-related resources through patient education. See more at http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/student-affairs/organizations/schi.html