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by Tara Beverly
Jack Brose, D.O.,
dean of OU-COM, hit the road with Community Service Programs’
Mobile Health Van during the fall quarter. On Sept. 14 and 28,
Brose was part of the team, along with Janice Smith,
Healthy Adult Project coordinator, and Anne Pearch,
community health nurse coordinator, that provided free breast
and cervical cancer screenings at the Senior Center in New
Lexington, Perry County, and at
Hocking Valley Community Hospital, Hocking County.
These were Brose’s first times
out with the Mobile Health Van, and he says he plans to go out
again and regularly. Brose says that one has to go out with CSP
into community into in order to truly appreciate the tremendous
service they’re providing.
The services provided by CSP,
says Brose, himself a family practice physician, “have been
lifesaving in a number of instances.”
“There were folks whom I was
very pleased had come in to see us; they really needed to see a
physician, and in many cases, I don’t think would have if the
van had not been there,” says Brose. “We saw real issues; every
patient we saw needed follow-up care or was concerned about
something in particular, which was very interesting from a
medical standpoint. It wasn’t just a matter of whipping through
and doing a bunch of quick screening tests.”
They saw about 12 patients
every three hours. All of the women they saw were over the age
of 50, most were over 60 and the oldest was 84.
The unit is set up like a
doctor’s small office. There is a waiting room in which patients
fill out forms appropriate to the exams they are to receive. One
at a time they are brought back to the exam room, where a doctor
or nurse — in this case Brose — performed examinations and
discussed the results with them. Afterward CSP nurses contacted
patients for follow–up care and forwarded copies of the
examination findings to their regular physicians, if they have
them.
“The dedication of this group
is just remarkable,” says Brose. “They’re not in it for the
money. You can tell that they really care for the people of
Southeastern Ohio.”
“That’s what struck me. It was
a service mission — not just their jobs.”
“When they deal with the
patients they are so warm and friendly. Some patients were a bit
nervous initially, yet the way that Ann and Janice related to
them was so warm and nurturing. Patients responded so well to
it. Some of them wanted to send us things.”
Brose says it surprised him as
to how much time it takes to get to the places where clinics are
held. The trip to New Lexington took 1-1/2 hours. Many of the
communities served by CSP are farther away and require overnight
stays, he says. And CSP personnel also go out on weekends.
“I am impressed with the
dedication of the nurses and other personnel who run these
programs,” he says.
“It was nice to work with Dr.
Brose again,” said Smith. “He worked very well with the
patients. He seemed to have a good rapport with them, even
though he had never seen them before. He made the patients we
saw feel very comfortable. I look forward to working with him in
the future.
“I don’t think the women we saw
would get these types of examinations done without the Mobile
Health Van. Most of the women we see are trying to put food on
the table. For them, these examinations may be put off or never
done at all, which can be fatal.”
Getting out of the office, says
Brose was gratifying.
“It’s really nice as a dean of
a medical school to be able to get out and talk with people in
the community and to find out what their impressions of our
medical school are. It’s wonderful to see and hear how important
these services are to them.
“I frequently meet with
legislators and have to defend why we should get state money to
keep our vans going. It gives me a firsthand perspective if I’ve
been out on the vans providing these services as to why they are
so crucial to the communities of Southeastern Ohio.
“It’s important to support our
community programs. Working directly with CSP gives me the
opportunity to perform a community service and keep my clinical
skills up. It is a wonderful experience.”
News for the week of Nov. 22 – Nov. 27
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