PCOM South Georgia students welcomed guests from the community onto campus Feb. 10 for the first student outreach health screening.

At the first station, student physicians checked blood pressure. At the next station, they analyzed participants’ body mass index. When participants arrived at the third station, the student physicians there used both numbers to explain what health issues might be on the horizon for the participant.

“Blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) are important health measures because they can show risks for problems like heart disease, stroke and diabetes,” Michael Abaskaron (DO ’27), an event organizer, said. “Checking these helps find health issues early, so people can get the care they need. Think of them as being similar to a check engine light on the display of your car’s dashboard.”

After being educated about the importance of blood pressure and BMI, participants then received a free monitor to keep tabs on their blood pressure at home. Before leaving participants enjoyed healthy snacks that included raw vegetables, fruit and cheese.

“This event will hopefully benefit community members for years to come by providing them with the tools and information to implement healthier lifestyle practices and to keep better track of their health markers,” Rajay Dockery (DO ’27), an event organizer, said. “Our goal here is to inspire those who participate to play a more active role in their own health care, which could be as simple as scheduling an overdue appointment with a family physician or getting connected with resources that could help them find affordable health insurance.”

While the event helped participants learn more about their health, it also helped PCOM student physicians.

“This event will give PCOM medical students valuable hands-on experience in conducting health screenings and educating the community,” Abaskaron said. “It helps them build clinical skills, improve communication with patients and understand the importance of preventive care in promoting better health outcomes.”

Other screenings are planned for the near future in the community.

“We want to hold the community wellness event on campus because we want community members to become familiar with health care on all fronts,” Dockery said. “We hope events like this will result in more physicians from the community training here and staying here to practice. To me this is the ultimate form of giving back and paying it forward to the community that has had such a powerful impact on the lives of PCOM South Georgia and its students.”