Health Fair Benefits Community and Future Physicians

INDIANAPOLIS - An ounce of prevention may be worth a pound of cure and that weighty yet sage message is exactly what Indiana University School of Medicine students hope to deliver to near-westside city residents.

Students, working under the direction of IU physicians and faculty, are organizing and sponsoring a health fair 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Westside Community Health Center, 2732 W. Michigan St.

"The fair gives us the opportunity to apply our education and, more importantly, serve the community and to better learn the needs of patients," says fair organizer Amanda Myers, a fourth-year medical student. "The Westside center was selected because it is an area that largely is medically underserved, but has active community leadership to encourage residents to take advantage of what we have to offer."

Students will assist IUSM faculty and staff physicians to provide free screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and colon cancer in adults. Vision and hearing screenings will be offered to children. Also, free information about breast and skin cancer, osteoporosis, exercise and diet, weight loss, prostate problems, dental hygiene and other health topics will be distributed to visitors.

Also, the Indiana chapter of the American College of Physicians will have a booth and offer to adults at high risk for complications from influenza or pneumonia, says Michael Sha, MD, who is helping medical students coordinate the event.

Students from the IU schools of dentistry and allied health science also will join the medical students in proving screenings and other services. While the medical students and their counterparts in other schools will be on the giving end, they also reap benefits, notes Palmer MacKie, MD, MS, clinical assistant professor of medicine. "Standard medical practice is good for setting bones and writing prescriptions, but I think that students discover that people and communities have different needs and different voices."

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Media Contact: Joe Stuteville
Tel: (317)274-7722
317-212-1275 (pager)
Email: jstutevi@iupui.edu

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