Nursing students, profs, join MC colleagues at annual RAM Clinic

Contact: Christine Phelan Kueter: 434-982-3312

(7-18-12) More than one thousand patients are expected at this weekend’s annual Remote Area Medical Clinic, a three-day health care extravaganza organized by UVA Medical Center and the Schools of Medicine and Nursing.

Nursing professor Audrey Snyder and School of Medicine community outreach director Scott Syverud trained dozens of nursing and medical students for the event, touching on everything from treatment guidelines for diabetes to asthma and psychiatric disorders. The annual RAM clinic provides an extraordinary opportunity for nursing and medical students to team up to provide care, boosting not only their clinical skills but their abilities to work and problem solve together.

Organizers estimate the 240 U.Va. volunteers will serve more than 1,000 patients this weekend, Friday, July 20 through Sunday, July 22. Routine care – everything from pap smears to colonoscopies, diabetes care to mammograms, hypertension and immunizations – will be offered throughout the day at the Virginia-Kentucky Fairgrounds in Wise County, Virginia. The care provided is on a first-come, first service basis, and is free to anyone who comes between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 6 a.m. to 12 noon on Sunday.

For many patients, Snyder said, the RAM Clinic offers the only care they receive all year.

Wednesday morning, U.Va. volunteers packed trucks with medical supplies and equipment to make the six hour, 300-mile trip to the Fairgrounds, where clinics will be held in assembled tents.

For patients who need additional specialty care, specialists at UVA Medical Center will be available via telemedicine.

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