On Saturday, Sept. 16, medical students at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell will hold a community health fair from 12 to 4 p.m. at the Greater Springfield Community Church in Jamaica.

The fair will provide information about various aspects of health and wellness, including nutrition, oral health, physical activity, mindfulness, and resources for public benefits, along with free medical blood pressure, diabetes, and lipid screenings.

The event is a collaboration between the medical school’s Catherine Bangeranye Society Student National Medical Association chapter, the student-run free clinic, various student groups, Northwell Health, and the Greater Springfield Community Church.

The health fair aims to help reduce disparities in screening rates and access to health information among low-income and medically underserved communities.

“There is a large population that either lacks access or is apprehensive of the medical system for one reason or another,” explained second-year medical student Temitope Ayodele, SNMA chapter co-president. “I think it is important to go into communities and offer health services to bridge gaps in care and to strengthen trust between medical providers and the community.”

Saturday’s health fair will not be the first time the Zucker School of Medicine has partnered with the Greater Springfield Community Church to help foster community trust in healthcare providers.

In September 2022, the Queens community turned out for a similar health fair at the church, made possible by an educational grant the medical school received from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

The grant was awarded to only five schools nationwide to increase confidence in COVID-19 vaccines and address medical misinformation and mistrust through health professions education.

The school recently received a second grant from the AAMC to further support educating medical, nursing and pharmacy students on how best to address misinformation with patients.

The Zucker School of Medicine students are excited to have the opportunity to continue to help serve the Queens community through the health fair.  For some students, the location holds special significance, and they are honored to be able to give back to a community with which they feel a strong connection.

“My paternal grandparents used to live very close to the church where we will be holding the health fair, so it feels appropriate to have this event in one of the many parts of New York City that made me who I am,” said Tisheya Ward, SNMA chapter co-president. Jamaica resident Christelle Thermidor echoed her med school classmate’s sentiments.

“I pursued medicine to help meet the health needs of my community and to contribute to the work being done to bridge health care disparities,” said Thermidor.

Many Zucker School of Medicine students participating in the health fair are also involved with the school’s student-run free clinic at 95-25 Queens Boulevard in Rego Par.

The clinic opened in 2016 to serve the basic primary care needs of the uninsured at no cost. Free health fairs, like the one on Saturday, are yet another way to extend care to underserved communities.

Second-year medical student and fair organizer Ivie Odia, whose family is originally from Lagos, Nigeria, the most populated city in Africa, has witnessed firsthand the suffering caused by the lack of good healthcare.

“I have seen the devastating effects not having access to quality healthcare can have on the lives of families not just in Nigeria, but also here in the United States,” said Odia, adding that community health fairs not only benefit patients but allow medical students to build trust with future patients.

“We spend so much time in the classroom and the lab, learning about different conditions people face and practicing to become the best doctors we can be; however, it’s easy to lose sight of the people who deal with these conditions daily,” explained Odia. “Through the health fair, I hope the community will gain more knowledge about staying on top of their health and gain trust in us students. I hope they feel they can trust the future physicians the Zucker School of Medicine is producing and that they can advise us on how to become better physicians for them.”

The Zucker School of Medicine’s health fair will be held on Saturday, September 16, from 12 to 4 p.m. at the Greater Springfield Community Church, 177-06 129th Ave. in Jamaica. For more information, contact [email protected].