草莓社区 students and an alumnus were among the volunteers at a Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic in Harrisonburg on March 2 and 3.
Based in Tennessee, has offered dental, vision and medical care at over 1,000 clinics in the United States since 1985. In Harrisonburg for the first time, the clinic, which relies on volunteer providers and workers, provided 371 dental, 307 medical, and 287 vision care appointments to 601 people over two days at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds, organizers said. 聽
鈥淚n addition to alleviating the needs of many community members, this clinic was an opportunity for our students to gain valuable experience seeing how a community can join together to provide free health services to anyone who walks through the door,鈥� said Professor Julia Halterman, who directs the EMU . 鈥淓MU pre-health students display a deep compassion for serving others, and this RAM clinic was a great opportunity for students to give back to the community. 鈥�
Nathan Ropelewski helped with clinic setup, and Sitasma Khatri assisted patients on the clinic鈥檚 first day. Both biomedicine graduate students and members of EMU鈥檚 Pre-Student Osteopathic Medical Association, they were 鈥渂lown away鈥� by the clinic鈥檚 magnitude and the high numbers of both patients in need and eager volunteers.
鈥淚t was huge,鈥� Ropelewski said.
Some patients, Khatri noted, traveled for hours to be seen, sleeping in their cars and waiting in line for hours through the night. One had even walked there from Timberville, a trek of over 20 miles and eight hours, according to organizers.
Retired ophthalmologist and Rockingham County resident Calvin Miller 鈥�66, who has volunteered at RAM clinics for 15 years and was featured in a , said that his decades of practicing in medically underserved areas have exposed him to 鈥渓ots and lots of folks鈥� without full access to eye care.
鈥淩AM makes it so easy to offer services that I鈥檓 still trained to do, so I do it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 liked what I was doing, and it鈥檚 a way to keep my fingers in the field that I was trained and that I worked in.鈥�
Many other volunteers, too, flocked to the clinic, including from across state lines.
鈥淲hen I got there at 5:30 [the first day] morning, the line for the volunteers was already out that door,鈥� Khatri said. 鈥淧eople got there at 4 or 4:30 in the morning to ensure that each station had enough people. I thought that commitment from people who were willing to drive out on a Saturday morning to serve others was incredible.鈥�