UAMS student-run center to focus on area’s needs

— The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will provide free health screenings and information in a donated building at the corner of 12th and Cedar streets starting in January.

The 12th Street Health and Wellness Center, one of UAMS’ contributions to the developing Central Little Rock Promise Neighborhood, will blend two emerging trends in higher education: interprofessional studies andservice learning, organizers said.

In a brick building that was formerly a USA Drug store, students from all of UAMS’ colleges - pharmacy, medicine, public health, nursing, medicine and health professions - will provide medical and dental screenings, immunizations and health counseling to nearby residents.

Professors hope the project will provide research opportunities as students work to document the health needs of the neighborhood. They also hope students will use the hands-on experience to learn to cooperate with professionals in other health disciplines, which will be an essential skill after they graduate, said Lanita White, the center’s director.

“We want them to learn with, from and about each other,” she said.

The center will open Jan. 7, offering services targeted at cardiovascular health, such as prescription drug consultations, blood pressure screenings and even meal planning,White said.

The center will eventually expand and strengthen its services after students from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and researchers from the UAMS Translational Research Institute complete a study of the neighborhood’s health needs, she said.

UAMS Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Jeanne Heard said leaders would eventually like to convert the health center into a clinic, an aspiration that would require funding from a private donor.

In its current state, students working in the center will not treat medical issues.

Rather, they may help cardiac patients organize and understand their medicines, or they may help people recently diagnosed with diabetes create healthy food plans, Heard said.

Students will remain flexible as they learn the needs of the area, she said.

“Big institutions canmake mistakes by coming into a neighborhood and saying ‘This is what you need,’” Heard said.

UAMS developed plans for the center after alumni Vicki and Karrol Fowlkes of Salem donated the building to the College of Pharmacy in 2011.

“It is very gratifying to help revitalize this area where I spent many hours working, and also where many past professors and students of the UAMS College of Pharmacy practiced,” Vicki Fowlkes said in a statement. “We are thrilled how it has come to fruition and anticipate the opportunity to watch the difference it can make within the community.”

The building, freshly painted and partitioned with temporary walls, is located within the boundaries of the Little Rock Promise Neighborhood, a collaboration between UAMS, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and other partners to provide “cradle-to-career” health, educational and social assistance to children in a low-income portion of the city.

The Central Little Rock Promise Neighborhood is an area bounded by Interstate 630 to the north, Boyle Park to the west, Fourche Creek Bottoms to the south and Martin Luther King Drive to the east.

Participating organizations are working with the Little Rock School District to target an estimated 10,000 children living in seven census tracts in the area.

Many families living in the area are uninsured or have poor access to health care,White and Heard said.

Students could help those families by assessing if their health concerns require treatment, they said. They may also help overcome fears of clinical settings by referring families to free treatment in the area, helping them find a medical specialist or even telling them where to park if they go to UAMS for an appointment, Heard said.

While they are helping the community, students will help each other, she said, envisioning nursing and medical students counseling walkin clients side-by-side.

“We want them to really understand the value of each of these other professions,” Heard said.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/26/2012

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