UOW students play key role in mass men’s health screening

University of Wollongong student volunteers played a major role in the success of the inaugural ahm Check It Illawarra men’s health event at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Friday (20 August).

Around 120 medical, nursing, exercise science and medical and health science students worked as volunteer clinical assistants at the event, providing free health assessments for almost 1000 men.

Check It was organised by Healthier Illawarra Men (HIM) - a committee of business, community, medical and UOW representatives formed to promote greater awareness of health issues among the region’s male population.

The event was run under the auspices of the Illawarra Division of General Practice.

The students conducted a series of tests on each “patient”, including taking blood for cholesterol and blood sugar readings, taking blood pressure, and measuring height and weight for a Body Mass Index (BMI) assessment. People with high readings were advised to consult their doctor, while those with dangerously high readings were encouraged to speak to a doctor on duty at the event.

Guest speakers, including former world motorcycle racing champion Wayne Gardner and well-known dietician Susie Burrell provided informative presentations, while there were around 20 booths for organisations such as The Cancer Council, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Heart Foundation, Lifeline and UOW’s Graduate School of Medicine (GSM), which provided additional information on a wide range of health issues.

UOW Pro Vice-Chancellor (Health) Professor Don Iverson and GSM Foundation Dean Professor John Hogg were members of the HIM committee with Kay Kent and Sue Liersch from the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences .

Professor Iverson said the event had been a great success from a public health perspective, while also providing invaluable training for the students.

Professor Hogg said it was “fantastic exercise” for the students to deal with so many patients across a wide range of ages and demographics.  “You could see them growing in confidence as the afternoon wore on. It was a great learning experience for them,” he said.

HIM committee chairman Mark McDonald paid tribute to the students’ contribution, declaring the event could not have been possible without their input. “They were absolutely brilliant,” he said. “We were really pleased with the response from the public – having almost 1000 men attend was a fabulous result – and we simply couldn’t have managed these numbers without the enthusiasm and hard work of our student volunteers.”

Medical and Health Science students Karishma Bhandary and Nicholas Corr checked the first “patients” – Wayne Gardner, Minister for the Illawarra Paul McLeay and UOW Vice-Principal (Administration) Chris Grange when Check It started at midday, and were on duty for most of the afternoon.

“It was a great experience to have this taste of dealing with the public, and a great cause,” Nicholas said. “We were on duty for four and a half hours, and it went really fast”.

Karishma said she had really enjoyed the experience of dealing with some many people.

“Everyone was so nice. I had been wondering what I was going to talk to the people about while we were doing the checks, but conversation just came naturally,” she said. Everyone had a really good attitude.”

Mr Grange said UOW had been delighted to be involved with Check It, as sponsors and supporters and through the students’ involvement.

“This is exactly the kind of event that is consistent with the University’s commitment to improving medical infrastructure and services in the Illawarra, through our medical school and our medical and health research programs,” Mr Grange said.

“It is also terrific training for our students to have the experience of meeting and interacting with so many people.”

Nick Hartgerink

23 August, 2010