Thousands of South Floridians will benefit from free health screenings at the annual events

For many people who visit one of the dozen DOCS health fairs run by Miller School students year after year, the free fairs are places where basic health care needs are met, where waits to see a doctor are relatively painless, where many uninsured find care and bills never follow. It's also where medical students who are members of DOCS, the Mitchell Wolfson, Sr. Department of Community Service, continue a tradition that has spanned nearly 40 years and screened thousands of people.

For some patients, the care is nothing short of lifesaving. This has been evident each year, most recently at the October 10 Little Haiti Health Fair where a woman walked in for a check up and, after testing, physicians and medical students informed her of her alarming blood sugar reading: five times the normal level!

"She was one of many critical diabetics we have seen over the years and one example of the crucial services the students bring to so many communities," said Arthur Fournier, M.D., associate dean for community health. "In general, a health fair is one of the best learning experiences for a medical student. It offers all the nuts and bolts they need to carry out effective health care and the greatest thing is they don't know they are learning. They are working closely with trained physicians in a setting that's very different from a classroom."

In addition to the Little Haiti Health Fair, where 260 patients were seen, a DOCS health fair was held September 26 for about 270 people in Hialeah. Other health fairs scheduled this year will take place in the Upper Keys on November 21 and in South Miami-Dade on December 12. The remaining fairs are slated for early 2010 in the Florida Keys -- in Big Pine Key, Key West and Marathon -- on January 23; in Pompano Beach on February 6; and Liberty City on February 13. The Jack and Jill Health Fair, a recent addition to the series, is scheduled to take place in Fort Lauderdale on March 13.

The logistical preparations for each fair are daunting, but medical students, led by a fourth-year student who is executive director and designated project directors at each site, eagerly take on the task. They become experts in coordinating locations, manpower, supplies and follow-up care. They also get the word out and employ public relations as part of the mix.

Two weeks before Little Haiti's 15th fair, project manager and Miller School medical student Tameka Joseph and two classmates took to the airwaves of local Haitian radio to spread the word about the health fair and invite listeners to pre-register. Later the trio and other students hit the streets of Little Haiti to encourage residents to attend.

At the fair's home, the Center for Haitian Studies on Northeast Second Avenue, every space was utilized: large areas for registration and check-out, rooms for height, weight and blood pressure screening, blood testing, Pap smears, breast exams, male exams, dermatologic screening and several other medical services. Students dressed in gray DOCS T-shirts manned the stations and kept an orderly flow.

"I am very passionate about providing care to the communities that are underserved and keeping up this worthwhile University of Miami tradition," said Joseph, a second-year medical student of Haitian descent. "For so many people this is the one time each year that they get the screenings that should be routine but for many reasons they don't have access to these services."

Joseph and Eileen Bernal, this season's DOCS executive director, spent most of their time making sure the event ran smoothly.

Like Joseph, first-year student George Dalembert is also of Haitian descent and felt "compelled to help out" for a worthy cause. "It's important that I am here giving back," said Dalembert, who studies at the Miller School's regional campus at Florida Atlantic University and was busy at the vital signs station. "This is what medicine is all about and it's part of why we want to become doctors."

Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., a stalwart supporter of DOCS and its humanitarian mission, also attended, spending time with students and faculty and greeting patients of all ages.

"I am so grateful to them for providing this service every year," said Marie Claude Pierre Louis after receiving screenings and while waiting for her son, Claudly, 8, to get an eye exam.

"I came last year and couldn't believe we got so much attention with no insurance," Pierre Louis added. "They took care of me. They took care of my son. These students are doing so much for us. They are doing so much to help our community."

That help, notes Alex J. Mechaber, M.D., associate dean for undergraduate medical education and a volunteer at the health fair, is an integral part of the Miller School's mission to improve community health.

"Each year I am struck by the numbers of patients with uncontrolled chronic diseases and the poor access to medical services," Mechaber said. "But providing these screenings is a key part of our mission. Our students take a lot of time to organize a fair of this magnitude and offer services that are critical. I am proud to be a part of it."