Foothills Regional High School is proud to celebrate the successful and impactful partnership with the Medical College of Georgia through the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, which has significantly enhanced the education and well-being of students at Clarke Foothills.
Over the past two years, nine medical students from the Medical Partnership and two UGA undergraduate students have been instrumental in operating a free medical clinic at the Foothills Clarke site every two weeks. Under the expert supervision of Jeni Fitzpatrick, RN, and Jean Chin, MD, MBA, MACP, FACHA, these clinics have provided our students with well-visit exams and consultations on various medical conditions and chronic issues, increasing healthcare access.
In addition to clinical services, the medical students organized two health fairs, themed around Halloween and Valentine's Day, to promote health education on important topics such as diet, nutrition, sleep, stress management, exercise, smoking, and vaping prevention, cold and flu prevention, dental health, mindfulness, and meditation. The fairs educated Foothills students and helped them become more comfortable discussing their health with medical professionals.
“One of the goals of this partnership was for Foothills students to begin to get comfortable with a medical provider, and I have to say that we exceeded that goal,” said Clarke Social Worker Mimi Gower. “Every clinic day, our students would come in looking for the medical students because they always maintained a friendly demeanor and addressed our students as adults capable of understanding and communicating with medical professionals. From check in to check out, I believe our students felt comfortable with the process and developed the very relationship we were hoping to achieve.”
As part of the Medical Partnership, first and second-year medical students engage in community work in the Athens area as part of their Community Population Health courses. These classes combine coursework, small group work, and community work to learn how to improve overall community health by improving the health of the population, reducing health disparities, and preventing disease/illness.
Following the successful completion of another medical cohort, the Foothills team looks forward to continuing this valuable partnership, which exemplifies the win-win nature of collaborative efforts between Foothills Regional High School and the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership.
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the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership.