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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s 5:20 a.m. It\u2019s still dark and I\u2019m blearily approaching the turn for the Rockingham County Fairgrounds. As I make my turn, I\u2019m surprised to find a line of cars waiting to enter the parking lots. There are shadows of volunteers milling about everywhere. It\u2019s clear that most of the people have already been here for a while. This was when I began to realize the sheer scale of a Remote Area Medical clinic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remote Area Medical is a non-profit\norganization that provides free medical, dental and vision care to anyone who\nneeds it. You do not need to present any form of government I.D. or\ndocumentation. The organization travels all over the United States, as well as\ninternationally, to provide healthcare to underserved populations. What\u2019s\nincredible is that all the clinics are primarily volunteer run! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I parked my car and headed towards\nthe volunteer station, I was met with another line. This was the volunteer\ncheck-in line that extended from inside the building all the way to the parking\nlots. By this time, it was 5:30 a.m. and there was already an efficient system,\nrun by volunteers, of matching other volunteers to their appropriate\ndestinations. Through chatting with some of the other people in line, I was\ntold that most people got here around 4:00 a.m. to start volunteering! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was assigned to help in the main\nbuilding as a general support\/interpreter. In the building, there were so many\npeople preparing to open up the clinic doors at 6:00 a.m. On one side, it was a\nsea of light blue as scrubbed up dentists, dental hygienists, and dental\nstudents readied their stations for the day\u2019s patients. On the other side,\nthere were physicians, medical students, nurses, nursing students and medical\nassistants having last-minute meetings to make sure everyone understood their\nroles. In addition, pre-medical students, pre-nursing students, and a whole\nhost of other individuals waited in their respective areas to help out where\nthey could. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the doors opened, patients began filing\nin systematically. I knew that they had been waiting for hours, but did not\nknow how long until a patient later told me that many people had arrived the\nnight before and slept in their cars. The first station they went to was the\npatient registration table. Here, volunteers created forms for the patients with\nbasic demographic information such as name and age. Next, patients moved on to\nthe triaging tables where healthcare professionals (mostly nurses and nursing\nstudents) took the history of the patient as well as checked vital signs such\nas temperature and blood pressure. In addition, patients had to choose between\nreceiving dental or vision care in addition to medical care. Due to time\nconstraints, they were unable to receive both the same day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After fluttering around for a while,\ntrying to see where I could be useful, I fell into the responsibility of\nescorting patients from various stations. A triage table would hold up a red\ncard when the patient was ready to move on and I would guide the patient to\ntheir next destination. From this experience, I got to hear short stories about\ntheir lives and why they chose to come here. For many, this was not their first\nRAM clinic. Several patients had driven over three hours to be seen by a\nhealthcare professional. I remember one patient shared how this was the only\nway she could see a doctor because health insurance was too expensive. Another\npatient had brought her whole family to be seen here and had traveled further\nto other RAM clinics as well. These conversations emphasized both the gaps in\nwhere and how healthcare is currently being delivered along with the vital need\nto fill those regions with more healthcare services so that patients do not\nhave to drive hours and then wait all night to be seen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One quality that was woven into every\nactivity and interaction at the RAM clinic was the sincere desire to help. Some\nvolunteers had also driven hours to participate in this clinic. There was a\ngroup of pre-med students from Ohio that drove six hours to volunteer all three\ndays at the clinic. In addition, volunteers were handing out 3-pound bags of\nfresh Virginian apples from a local orchard. I was told that the orchard\u2019s\nowner frequently donated his produce because he wanted to take care of his\ncommunity. There were also booths of community resource organizations staffed\nwith representatives to assist patients and make them aware of the\nopportunities within the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, this experience at the RAM\nclinic truly revealed the power of the human spirit when like-minded\nindividuals work together. I was made aware of how deeply people can care for\none another. Also, through this opportunity, I realized that it takes a number\nof different individuals from varied backgrounds to execute such a massive\noperation. Certainly, there must be trained healthcare professionals, but it is\nalso important to have people ready to help out wherever there is a non-medical\nneed \u2013 volunteers willing to bring coffee to patients waiting in the cold or\nescorting patients to various stations. I feel grateful to have had even the\ntiniest role in improving access to healthcare in an area of need. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Sitasma Khatri It\u2019s 5:20 a.m. It\u2019s still dark and I\u2019m blearily approaching the turn for the Rockingham County Fairgrounds. As I make my turn, I\u2019m surprised to find a line of cars waiting to enter the parking lots. There are shadows of volunteers milling about everywhere. It\u2019s clear that most of the people have....<\/p>