(Left) Dr. T. J. Hundley, assistant professsor of internal medicine at the University of South Alabama and USA's AOA faculty advisor, and (Right) Geoffrey Hancy, a fourth-year medical student and president of USA's AOA Chapter, review final details about the health fair that will be held next weekend.
The Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine has organized a free health fair for residents in south Mobile County, Ala., to be held on Jan. 15, 2011, at the Bayou La Batre Community Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The center is located at 12745 Padgett Switch Road.
Each year, members of the honor society choose a community service project. This year, the organization at USA chose a service project along Alabama’s Gulf Coast - providing assistance to one of the communities most affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.
During the past several months, AOA medical students and faculty at USA have garnered participation from their classmates, nursing students and allied health students at USA. USA students and members of the organizing committee have also enlisted participants from USA’s medical alumni, area private physicians, health service organizations and volunteers - including high school honor students from Dematha Catholic High School in Washington, D.C., who are traveling to the Gulf Coast to complete their community service project.
“When major disasters such as the oil spill occur, the communities impacted must deal with a wide range of life-altering issues. Almost all of these issues relate directly or indirectly to the physical and mental health of the citizens,” said Geoffrey Hancy, a fourth-year medical student at USA, who also serves as AOA president of the USA chapter. “The goal of our project is to make a meaningful impact in Bayou La Batre that will hopefully be felt in many positive ways.”
The health fair will provide basic health screenings - measuring blood pressure, glucose, and body mass index - and will distribute medical material and counseling. USA outreach programs that are participating include: the USA BreathMobile, the USA Center for Healthy Communities, and the USA Biomedical Library.
Premier Medical Group and Eye Care Alabama will provide vision screenings. Other community partners will provide flu shots, health information, nutritional advice, mental health counseling, and skin cancer screenings.
Community health fair participants include the Alabama Head Injury Foundation, the Alabama Kidney Foundation, the Alabama Organ Center, Alta Pointe, the American Cancer Association, the American Diabetes Association, Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy Mobile Campus, the Center for Dermatology, Eye Care Alabama, the Drug Education Council, the Mobile County Department of Public Health, and Premier Medical Group.
The Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society is a national honor society for medical students, residents, scientists and physicians in the United States and Canada. The organization promotes scholarship and research in medical schools, the encouragement of a high standard of character and conduct among medical students and graduates, and the recognition of high attainment in medical science, practice and related fields.
