The MSU nursing department wants you to take care of your body.
“Put prevention into practice” is the theme of the department’s 12th annual community health fair, which will be held April 13 at 9 a.m.
Dr. Betty Bowles, assistant professor of nursing, has organized the event since its inception in 2000. Though the health fair has always been popular, she said, organizers now expect to accommodate 1,000 people.
“It’s a gift to the community from our college,” Bowles said. “The very best way to reduce health care cost is to promote health and prevent disease.
This year the event will hold HIV and STD screenings, along with blood pressure and cholesterol checks.
Volunteers will also check attendees vision, hearing and pulmonary functions.
The best part is, Bowles said, the whole event is thrown by students in the nursing, respiratory therapy and dental hygiene programs. Students aren’t just learning how to diagnose symptoms – they’re learning how to work with people and plan events.
“This has evolved to where the students learn program planning,” she said. “The main thing is that it’s service learning for the students here at Midwestern.”
But nursing students have a vested interest in making the fair a success. In fact, their grades depend on it. The event functions as the community nursing program’s capstone course, Bowles said.
“They’re putting it on and also learning community involvement.”
Students hook up with professional health agencies to make the event work.
The event will feature specialized health tips for pregnant women and newborns and will span 20 educational topics.
Bowles said the collaboration is important between the College of Health Sciences and Human Services students. Administrators also like seeing programs like this on campus.
“Administration promotes this,” she said. “They’re interested in having healthy faculty staff and students.”
The event is also promoting blood drive. Volunteers will accept canned goods for the food bank and will be recycling used eyeglasses.
“It’s really a nice thing,” she said.
The fair will be held at the museum of art and will last until 1 p.m.
