Rich culture, deep tradition, and unwavering pride to be Hawaiian and Polynesian filled the air as UCLA medical students provided free health screenings at the APAMSA Health Fair of the Heritage of Aloha Festival.
APAMSA Community Health Chairs and MD candidates Yifan Mao and Christine Lam collaborated with undergraduate organization APAHC (Asian Pacific American Health Collaboration, Access, Resource, and Education) to recruit medical students and physician volunteers for the health fair.
“I am very thankful for APAMSA’s community partnerships that allow us to volunteer at health fairs in vulnerable parts of our community. At the health fair, one of our patients shared with me that they hadn’t checked their blood pressure in a while and wanted to know where they were at. I am super happy that I was able to help with that. It felt amazing providing blood pressure screenings, visual acuity tests, and more to our Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community alongside my classmates," shared first-year medical student Alexis Aleman.
Under the supervision of UCLA physicians Dr. Amy Wang, Dr. Edward Hui, and Dr. Robert Oye, and Dr. Leo Chuang, medical students provided preventive health and blood pressure screenings, vision tests, and medical education. Over two days, the students and physicians screened more than 60 underinsured and underserved AAPI patients.
“I loved this experience, you can’t simulate it in a classroom setting. Bringing lessons taught on paper and lecture to a real-life patient population allowed us to hone our skills as student doctors and invigorate us as we prepare for upcoming exams, reminding us why we study so hard and devote ourselves to provide excellent care to future patients," first-year medical student Michael Freddy.
