NSU College of Pharmacy serves the Community at the 2014 Reach Health Fair

RHF bone density table: NSU College of Pharmacy Palm Beach students Nicole Herrera, Jennifer Le and JeVaughn DeSilva took bone densities at the Reach Health Fair.

NSU College of Pharmacy (COP) students, faculty and alumni recently headed to the Belle Glade and Clewiston, Florida areas to serve in the 13^th Annual Glades REACH and Hendry/Glades Community Health Fairs, commonly known as the Reach Health Fair (RHF). The COP remains committed to partner with NSU Health Profession Division (HPD) colleges to not only support NSU’s local medical mission to these underserved communities but more so to provide an enriching interdisciplinary learning environment for the COP students. The RHF is another opportunity to instill in the students the values of providing voluntarily wellness services to the communities. With the support of faculty, the students planned and executed the program. Students offered bone density screenings and health education on healthy bones to both communities; and at Belle Glade a ‘brown bag’ service that included education on safe storage of medications and safe disposal of expired/unwanted medications.  PB local FSHP-SC officers and Jessica Dabady, PharmD took charge of the ‘brown bag’ services.

The event offered the students a variety of meaningful learning experiences. Nakshi Shah, Pharm.D. candidate (Class of 2016) and 2014 RHF student coordinator said “this year I had the pleasure of coordinating the 13th Annual REACH Health Fair along with two other student pharmacists. It was a great experience. I was able to see what goes into planning such a big event like this. I got the opportunity to improve my ability to work together as a team to accomplish one common goal as well as better my time management skills. The RHF allowed students from the different HPD disciplines to interact and work with one another towards patient care and to share their views and experiences. The COP students gained practical bone density screening experience and enhanced our communication skills with patients and the interdisciplinary team. While participating in the RHF, the students realized that many people still exists in poverty and the need to come together as a community to help each and every one. These experiences cannot be taught in a classroom and are sure to stay memorable to each of us for a lifetime.”

Feroza Sircar, M.S., Pharm.D. said it was amazing to work with the COP student coordinators and students. They rose to the challenge of time constraints and worked with their multicultural peers to make available the COP services in the three popular languages of the RHF community, namely, English, Spanish and Creole.

Student coordinators Daniela Valencia and Karina Gonzalez, Pharm.D. candidates (Class of 2015) said ”the RHF is a very rewarding experience in which we not only give back to the community but it also contributes to our development as a future health care professional. This is our second year participating in the RHF and every time we learn something valuable like improving our communication skills with a variety of patient population. It provides a real life hands-on experience allowing us to interact with the community in a patient care setting. We truly believe the RHF significantly contributes to the development of future health care professionals by providing a complete experience in which you interact with patients, peers and HPD interdisciplinary team in one event”.

Overall the students, in a conductive interdisciplinary learning environment demonstrated professionalism and effectively provided screenings and public health education to the multicultural RHF communities. The public health services provided by the COP students, faculty and alumni were greatly appreciated by the RHF community attendants and the HPD organizing team.

COP participants included Feroza Sircar, M.S., Pharm.D.; Jessica Dabady, Pharm.D.; Zaher Hajar, Pharm.D.; Andre Moses, Pharm.D.; Valerie Guerrier (PB FSHP-SC Vice-President); Nakshi Shah (FSHP-SC Officer); Jolyne Saint Louis  (FSHP-SC Officer); Karina Gonzalez; Daniela Valencia;  Maumer Dzebo;  Betsy N. Torres-Galarza; Sandra Melendez-Tirado; Lorianne Figueroa; Rennie Perez; Carolyn. delCastillo;  Cleon-Paul Blake; Jevaughn DeSilva;  Nicole Mahabir-Herrera; Roxana Joseph; Jennifer Le; Thien Nguyen; Yee Sung; Ting Wong; Marlene Calix; Joel Garcia; Barbara Parker; Stacy Tran; David Pham; and  Akash Patel.