Hundreds participate in United to Serve health fair

By Lin Lofley

Several medical students from UT Southwestern share information with a young audience at Thomas J. Rusk Middle School.
Several medical students from UT Southwestern share information with a young audience at Thomas J. Rusk Middle School.

More than 200 students, faculty members, staff members, and volunteers from UT Southwestern Medical Center descended on the Thomas J. Rusk Middle School campus as the annual United to Serve health fair was held for the 13th time at the school.

The April 22 event, which students from UT Southwestern’s three schools spend a year planning and organizing, offers many in Dallas’ underserved community the only opportunity they’ll have to actually see a doctor, and the Dallas Independent School District supports the endeavor by making the school available and by publicizing the health fair to students across the district.

Maria Isabel Sanchez, who brought her four sons and the son of neighbor to the 2017 United to Serve, said it was the second time she had brought the group – ranging in age from 7 to 3 – with the intent to get them screened for high cholesterol and diabetes.

 “We came last year but we got here late, and we didn’t get the screenings done,” Ms. Sanchez said. “We were up early this year, because it’s important.

“It’s nice that they also have the fun things for the kids, but getting them checked out was the first thing we did.”

United to Serve incorporates fun and interactive activities with discussions of serious health concerns, such as fire safety, prenatal care, and bicycle safety.

But the centerpiece annually is the health screenings and the 2017 United to Serve delivered, as it does every year. Between 9 a.m., when the doors opened, and 2 p.m., members of the UT Southwestern community performed:

  • Nearly 100 vision screenings,
  • Nearly 100 body mass index screenings,
  • 50 physical examinations, required for DISD students to participate in extracurricular activities, and
  • 80 early hearing examinations.

Students from UT Southwestern Medical School, UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and UT Southwestern School of Health Professions also taught important health procedures and shared with festivalgoers, including:

  • Distributing 130 bicycle helmets as part of the perennially popular bicycle safety station,
  • Teaching heart attack recognition, with 20 people – largely in the age demographic that sees a heart attack most – participating,
  • Demonstrating to 45 people how to identify and care for someone who has suffered a stroke,
  • Administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) instruction, with a total of 84 fairgoers participating in a short class on how to do the often-lifesaving technique, and
  • Demonstrating the Heimlich maneuver, with 50 participants being taught how to conduct the procedure.

Fourth-year medical students Dr. Romero Santiago, heading to the University of California, Davis in Sacramento for his family medicine residency, and Dr. Audrey Stevens, staying at UT Southwestern for her general surgery residency, served as Medical Directors for the event. As the 2017 health fair ended, they handed the care and future of United to Serve to third-year medical students Neha Gaddam and Claire Mauvais, who will continue the legacy of leadership and community involvement.

“This was a wonderful and fulfilling event as always, reminding me of my passion for community and preventive health as emphasized in my dual-degree M.D./M.P.H. Program,” said Dr. Santiago, who recently graduated from the UT Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, which awarded him a Master of Public Health degree. “While Audrey and I served as the directors this past year, this event would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the people who serve with us on the committee, and who point to some specific activity and say, ‘I’ll take that one on.’”

United to Serve participants get involved in a demonstration at Thomas J. Rusk Middle School.
United to Serve participants get involved in a demonstration at Thomas J. Rusk Middle School.
Belle, and the Beast, were played by UT Southwestern Medical School students.
Belle and the Beast were played by UT Southwestern Medical School students.
 
UT Southwestern Medical School students generated United to Serve excitement by dressing up in different superhero costumes.
UT Southwestern Medical School students generated United to Serve excitement by dressing up in different superhero costumes.
Healthy snacks were included for United to Serve participants.
Healthy snacks were included for United to Serve participants.
 

In addition to the multitude of volunteers performing screenings, teaching demonstrations, and manning educational booths, the United to Serve committee’s fundraising arm received the usual generous assistance from Dallas businesses.

In a day filled with drawings for prizes, United to Serve and its community partners awarded 170 gifts – ranging from stuffed animals to gift cards for restaurants, bookstores, and virtually every variety of retail store – to fairgoers. Most prized among the items drawn for appeared to be a number of bicycles and a pair of quinceañera dresses.