“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
–Winston Churchill
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
–Mahatma Gandhi
Community involvement is the core of the medical profession. Here at Elon we make it the core of our program as well. Over the past 9 months we have worked diligently to develop a student society that not only serves to benefit us as students, but we strive to make an impact on our community. The first step we took in doing that: Alamance County’s ‘Open Door’ Clinic.
As a first year program there are a lot of unknowns and everything is brand new. It has been exciting to be a part of the class that helps mold our program for future generations but at times has also presented it challenges. One of the first challenges we took on was to solidify our connections and presence in the community around us. Throughout the past few months, lots of work has been done to officially establish a relationship with the Open Door clinic as our program’s philanthropy. Open Door’s mission is: “To offer free health care services with dignity, professionalism, and concern for the uninsured and indigent residents of Alamance County.” We could think of no better organization to be a part of.
Working with Open Door has allowed us many opportunities to meet the people of the community as well as fulfilling the needs of the clinic. By performing blood pressure checks, glucose monitoring, patient interviewing, or (if we’re lucky) differential diagnosis and treatment plan discussion with the licensed providers, we maintain the organization of the clinic while also practicing our new found skills and knowledge as clinicians.
We are always looking for ways to expand our impact. Elon University as a whole prides itself on being one of the nation’s top three ranked institutions in community involvement and service leadership. As we continuously develop our PA program and society, we aim to meet (and hopefully exceed) the expectation to be the healthcare leaders of tomorrow for both our immediate community and beyond.
Daniel Jacobs PA-S
Elon University Physician Assistant Student Blog 