UH Hilo pharmacy students hold series of free health screening events
The first event was held last month in Waimea. The group will offer additional screenings in Hilo on Saturday, March 9, and Saturday, April 13. The events are free and open to the public.
A group of pharmacy students from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo conducted a free health screening clinic at KTA Pharmacy, Waimea, on Feb. 17.
Members of the Waimea community on Hawaiʻi Island took advantage of the opportunity to get free blood pressure and glucose screenings, body mass index readings, atrial fibrillation screenings, and medication reviews.
“Most community participants were interested in receiving blood pressure, blood glucose and body mass index, BMI, screening,” says Rosalind Wong, co-organizer of the event and a third-year student at UH Hilo’s Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy. “We got a lot of questions about what those test values mean for their individual health status, as well as the impact on any chronic conditions they may have had, such as hypertension or diabetes.”
The event, staffed by KTA pharmacists and students pharmacists, who are members of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), provided valuable health and medication information for community members while giving the students practical and professional experience.
“I got to witness the clinical skills that we are currently learning being used to help people,” says third-year pharmacy student Charlotte Powell. It was her first screening event and she was excited to shadow and learn from other students. “I learned how to use a BMI testing device and got to explain BMI and its associated risks to some community members. Everything I learned and observed from this event is essential to building my knowledge and pharmacy toolkit.”
Other students participating were third-year students Nielsen Gazo and Akiho Uno, and co-organizer of the event and second-year student Anuhea Sonnenberg.
As part of the APhA’s ALOHA project, the screening event was the first of the spring semester. The group will offer additional screenings at the KTA Pharmacy in Puainako, Hilo, on Saturday, March 9 and Saturday, April 13.
