Southern Illinois University Edwardsville will host a free Community Health Clinic from 3:30-6 p.m. Thursday, March 15 at the Fairmont City Library Center located at 4444 Collinsville Road in Fairmont City.
A similar event will be held from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 7 at the Technology Learning Center located at 111 South Appleknocker Drive in Cobden.
Services will include diabetes, hearing, cholesterol, oral health, and height, weight and body mass screenings, as well as blood pressure measurement, diabetes A1C screening and diabetes foot inspection. Nutrition, dental care and public health education will also be offered.
The interdisciplinary event involves University experts and students in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, Dental Medicine, and Education, Health and Human Behavior. The project received $10,300 in funding through SIUE’s Excellence in Education program that supports innovative projects in undergraduate education.
“This is the first time that the range of different professions are involved in providing services to an underserved Hispanic community, while also learning to collaborate as a team,” said Project Director Terri Poirier, PharmD, MPH, professor of pharmacy practice and senior scholar in the SIUE School of Pharmacy.
“We are excited to bring different professional students together to learn about meeting community health needs,” she added. “The evaluation will provide data that will not only demonstrate the value on student learning, but also the impact of the program on the community served.”
The high impact community engagement practice will enact a co-curricular and experiential learning model, and provide students with the unique opportunity to gain experience working with medical interpreters.
Photo: SIUE Community Health Clinic Project Director Terri Poirier, PharmD, MPH, professor of pharmacy practice and senior scholar in the SIUE School of Pharmacy.