Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine hosts third annual Community Health Far
The third annual Health Fair provided members of the community with free health services – while also training the next generation of doctors.
MERIDIAN, Idaho — From blood pressure screenings, to hearing and vision exams, there’s a lot that goes into keeping up with your health – and costs for those services can add up.
Which is why the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (ICOM) hosted its third annual Community Health Fair in Meridian to provide the Treasure Valley with free health services.
“It gives our students a great opportunity to connect with the community members that they serve,” ICOM’s SGA Community Outreach Chair Olivia Paulsen said.
ICOM is Idaho’s first medical school. Its Health Fair also provided a training opportunity for the next generation of doctors through hands-on experience.
“Our focus is really to reach the underserved and rural communities. A lot of those individuals don’t have access to care,” Paulsen said. “So, this is an opportunity for them to receive free basic health care services.”
The event provided services and resources including CPR training, hearing and vision exams, osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT), and mammography.
Medical students were set up at stations throughout ICOM’s campus to provide services.
“When people come through – real people with real problems come through and we can talk to them, find out what they’re going through and just have experience with them. It shows that what we’re doing does actually have a destination which is really nice to see.” ICOM medical student Dallas Petroff said.
More than 100 people took advantage of the free services on Saturday. This year’s community Health Fair had the event’s highest attendance.
“It’s a win-win situation because medical students are hungry for exposure,” ICOM medical student Ethan Lowe said. “It’s so good to be able to actually get out and apply the things that we’re learning in the classroom.”
ICOM student organizations also supported the event with activates and patient education.
“Being able to take vitals, which is what we’re doing at this station, and do physical exams, and perform osteopathic manipulative treatment is amazing,” medical student Jenny Scheffel said. “Because it really helps reiterate everything that we’re learning, and get that hands-on experience that we’re going to be doing for the rest of our career.”
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