OSU-CHS students organize health fair to benefit NE Oklahoma residents

Monday, November 11, 2024

Media Contact: Sara Plummer | Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu

More than 50 students from OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine and the OSU Center for Health Sciences Physician Assistant program are working together with Cura for the World Medical Clinic, Creek County Community Partnership and Sapulpa Public Schools to put on the Route 66 Road to Wellness Health Fair.

The free health fair is Saturday, Nov. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Holmes Park Elementary, 1231 E. Dewey Ave., in Sapulpa, and is open to anyone of any age. The event, sponsored by Cura for the World Medical Clinic, will include health screenings, consultations and health and wellness education and resources.

OSU medical students organized the fair and will conduct various health screenings including vision, glucose and blood pressure as well as Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine consultations. Booths and community organizations will also offer vaccinations, tobacco cessation, car seat checks, Narcan handouts, addiction education, preventative health recommendations and other health and wellness information.

Cura clinic physicians and community health providers as well as clinical faculty from OSU-CHS will oversee the event and provide support to the students and health fair participants.

Dr. Zachary Fowler, clinical assistant professor of medical education and medical director of the PA program at OSU-CHS, is also co-medical director of the Cura for the World Medical Clinic, a free family medicine clinic in Sapulpa available to all patients in northeast Oklahoma who don’t have health insurance.

The Cura clinic opened in 2019 and since then it has served as a site for OSU medical students’ Service Learning and Community Experience course, Fowler said, and in the spring PA students will join the clinic for their community experience course.

“We have welcomed numerous medical students who have joined our staff and served in various roles as volunteers for our clinic earning them several hours of community service, experience working with patients and delivering quality health care to the underserved population in rural Oklahoma,” he said.

Early in the fall semester, several students approached Fowler about volunteering beyond the required curriculum hours, so they developed the idea for the student-led health fair. It’s now grown with more than 50 medical and PA students participating in the event.

“The free health fair was inspired by the need to overcome barriers to care in our community,” said Tag Harris, a medical student at OSU-COM. “We aim to provide essential services and education at one convenient event, offering screenings and consultations at no cost.”

Ryan Cranna, a fellow medical student, said he volunteered at the Cura clinic and loved the experience and opportunity to serve the community.

“I believe medicine is so important and price should not be a barrier. I enjoy serving communities that may not have adequate access to health care,” Cranna said. “Medicine should be provided for all, no matter where they live or their economic status.”

Medical student Liz Bryant said it’s been an amazing experience organizing the health fair and she hopes her fellow classmates who volunteer at the event appreciate how it can impact people in the community.

“The willingness of so many students, community members and community partners to make this health fair happen has been incredible. I can’t say thank you enough to everyone who has been part of planning this,” Bryant said.