CHSU Pharmacy Students Help to Host Workshop for Junior Doctors Academy students

On Saturday, September 19, PharmD students at CHSU College of Pharmacy helped host a workshop for Junior Doctors Academy students and their families at the UCSF Fresno LaCMER Health Education and Leadership Conference held on the Fresno State campus. The workshop was titled, “Learn How Health Professionals Treat Their Patients,” and to provide greater exposure to the role of health professionals, CHSU College of Pharmacy collaborated with faculty members and students from Fresno State’s Bachelor of Nursing and Doctor of Physical Therapy programs.
 
The goal of the workshop was to provide a hands-on learning experience for approximately sixty 8th grade students in the UCSF Fresno LaCMER Junior Doctors Academy from Kings Canyon, Sequoia and Terronez Middle Schools who are interested in a career in medicine or another health profession. Parents and other family members of the 8th graders were pleasantly surprised to learn that they would also play a role in this hands-on workshop – as the patient – so everyone involved got a first-hand, active learning experience. Some students and/or faculty from both CHSU College of Pharmacy and Fresno State were bi-lingual and fluent in Spanish and the conference also provided translators for Spanish- and Hmong-speaking students and their families to ensure that all attendees could participate.
Amy Richardson, PharmD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Sciences at CHSU College of Pharmacy along with P2 student: Julio Mercado; and P1 students: Neil Rakholia, Nancy Ma, Raymond Vo, Ashley Olmstead, Parth Patel, Amanpreet Kooner, Matthew Lopez, and Alexander Pham; hosted the Pharmacist session engaging the 8th graders in the role as the health provider and acting as a clinical pharmacist taking blood pressure readings both automatically and manually with blood pressure cuffs and stethoscopes. Next they simulated administering vaccinations (without needles, of course) and the family member acting as the patient had a pleasant experience with their future health care provider!
 
Deborah L. Walker, PT, DPT, OCS, GCS, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Fresno State, and her Doctor of Physical Therapy students, Mario Crespin, Jr. and Veronica Munoz-Duran had the 8th graders test their families on timed posture, balance and strength tests to help determine fall risks. One of the static balance tests had the patient stand up straight with arms crossed and eyes closed for a timed period. Then they repeated the process while standing on a thick foam square. The physical therapists measures and compares the amount of “sway” for each activity. They also conducted two dynamic balance tests where the patient is timed and observed while walking from heal-to-toe on a straight line and the most popular activity where the patient was asked to step with both feet (one at a time) into four sections of a large square going clock-wise, then repeat the process going counter-clock-wise. The 8th graders enjoyed challenging their families and one another’s times on this activity!
   
Peter J. Garcia, DNP, FNPC, MSN, RNFA, Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at Fresno State, and his BSN Nursing students: Brenda Xiong, HannaMarie De Castro, Claudia Garcia, Michelle Howard, Kyler Mondietz, and Pao Yang, explained to the students and their families the range of responsibilities for all levels of nurses, including Advanced Practice nurses, who can diagnose as well as treat patients within their scope of practice. For the hands-on activity, the 8th graders used an otoscope to check the ears of their patients and stethoscope to listen to heart and lung sounds as part of a physical assessment. In addition to learning how vital the lungs and heart are to a patient’s health, students and their families were surprised to learn the importance of proper ear wax cleansing and the number of issues that can arise when this is not done properly.
While the primary goal of the workshop was to introduce the 8th graders and their families to the role of three important health care providers, the most enriching part of the activity, was that the 8th graders and their parents learned valuable information regarding the importance of seeking health care – especially preventive health care practices – and that with some hard work, becoming a health professional is an attainable goal. The students also learned about some of the coursework, pathways, costs and helpful resources available to them as they work towards their college goals.
 
The pharmacy, nursing and physical therapy students at CHSU and Fresno State benefitted with a valuable leadership and educational experience that will help them now perform better in their respective programs and later when they are applying for internships, residencies and jobs.
Visit our the California Health Sciences University facebook page to see the full photo album from the workshop:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.532758820216186.1073741846.122139694611436&type=3
To learn more about the UCSF Fresno Latino Center for Medical Education and Research and the Junior Doctors Academy, Doctors Academy and Health Careers Opportunity Program they offer, visit their website at: http://www.fresno.ucsf.edu/latinocenter/index.html