‘We want to help everyone have a great quality of life’

Variah Calhoun has participated in multiple health clinics during her eight years at Augusta University, and she has walked away from each with the satisfaction of knowing she helped members of the community while gaining valuable hands-on experience.

Calhoun, who is working on her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and Family Nurse Practitioner certification through AU’s College of Nursing, said bringing these services to the community is important because they give the patients access to resources that some might not normally have.

Calhoun was one of the students helping in the second annual health fair for employees of Horizon Motor Coach in Harlem, held Feb. 16 at the Annex II building.

“These opportunities we’re offering are free of charge, so they’re able to come here and get these resources,” she said. “It feels very good to have the community come out to want to support us and to want to get help. Personally, I’m very dedicated to minorities and trying to help bridge that gap of access to the health care system, and AU provides us with so many opportunities to be able to do that. We want to help everyone have a great quality of life.”

Faculty and students from the College of Nursing, Georgia Prevention Institute, College of Allied Health Sciences, the Dental College of Georgia, the Georgia Cancer Center and the Ryan White Outreach Program, as well as staff and volunteers from the Shepeard Community Blood Center, LifeLink and the Augusta Lions Club were involved in the health fair.

The health fair was designed to provide bus and truck drivers an opportunity to receive health screenings while also giving students a chance to become more familiar with the yearly physicals that the Department of Transportation requires.

Will Overman, a Horizon driver for five years, called the event a “win-win situation for all involved,” knowing it benefits the drivers while providing learning experiences for the students. He said it’s educational for everyone involved.

“I equate it to when I was in teacher education, going and visiting schools and working as a teacher. There’s the student-teaching segment and the experiences that you can have in the classroom and actually see what’s going on while helping students and working with them in a different capacity,” he said. “I think it’s very valuable, and I think it is great that these medical and nursing students have this experience, and we get the benefit. As long as they have these clinics, I’ll keep coming.”

Al Harris, president and CEO at Horizon Motor Coach and co-chair for the Augusta University Foundation, along with Debbie Layman, a CON alumna who organizes the Costa Layman Health Fair every year, worked together to create this event last year.

About 50 drivers and employees from Horizon Motor Coach attended the event and went through health screens that included vital sign checks, nutritional counseling, lung cancer screening, lab and dental services, and cholesterol and diabetes checks.

Pam Cromer, DNP, a professor in the College of Nursing and director of the Costa Layman Outreach Programs, said organizers learned a lot after last year’s venture into the truck driver community from what their particular needs are and how they could expand the services available to them.

“When you have found that they are very interested in learning about their own health care needs prior to going to get their DOT physicals that are required, this gives them a bird’s-eye view of what needs their attention because it will affect their ability to keep their job essentially,” Cromer said.

Cromer also noted that students are finding out about other career opportunities from these health fairs, such as becoming DOT and federally certified DOT examiners.

“Without that certification, the drivers have to find a certified examiner, and they are not that many available. A lot of times companies will contract with an agency that has a certified examiner, so it’s a good thing for our students to understand what is on the exam to become certified,” she said.

Harris said he received a lot of positive feedback from his employees about their experiences last year. He said some discovered previously undetected health issues while others verified information about themselves. He acknowledged a lot goes into a health fair, and he is grateful to AU for providing this opportunity and helping them find ways to remain healthy.

“I’m so grateful for AU taking the time with our drivers and employees. We have been in a relationship with AU for several years, first starting with the athletic department carrying students, and we know the importance of being healthy and the relationship we’ve had over the years is really paying off,” Harris said. “AU has been a blessing, not just to our company but to our drivers and their families.”

Cromer knows the community sees what AU and its students are doing, and she knows how important it is to continue building on the positive reputation they’ve developed.

“The community needs to be aware of our outreach, and I think, through services like this, we’re growing that knowledge with all our populations,” she said. “As long as we can respond to the community who are asking us to help, we’re very happy to do that. It gives both of us the benefit; we’re training our students and allowing them to develop those skills, and the people who come through receive a lot of services in one stop that they would not otherwise be able to achieve in a normal health care provider’s visit. This gives them a comprehensive view of their health care status.”