3 minute read
Student achievement
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT 14,350 HOURS
A few of the things that WVSOM students do ... build homes with Habitat for Humanity, operate fundraisers for the Family Refuge Center, collect coats for the United Way and provide local education for medical conditions including breast cancer, prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Our goal is to develop leaders who will carry these experiences into their professional lives, deepening and nurturing connections that strengthen the fabric of our communities.
WVSOM students lend helping hands during Day of Caring
100 STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN THIS EVENT
At the beginning of every school year, WVSOM students volunteer their time in a partnership for United Way’s annual Day of Caring.
It’s an opportunity for students to not only give back to local communities but also to meet and learn about their classmates. This year, more than 100 first- and secondyear students helped with renovation and rejuvenation projects at shelters, schools, libraries and local parks.
Student organizer Rachel Harris said that since WVSOM students represent the entire state of West Virginia as well as nearly every state in the country, the partnership is a chance for students to immediately become involved in the area.
“It is important for students to get out in the community and give back to the community that makes students feel so welcome. Lewisburg is such a friendly town and residents welcome new students with open arms. As a student from Michigan, I came down here and immediately felt the southern hospitality,” Harris said. “Medical school is more than just studying and getting good grades. As physicians we will be interacting with people on a daily basis and be role models in our community, so why not start that role now?”
The Greenbrier Episcopal School was one recipient of that generosity. Gretchen Graves, site coordinator for GES, requested student volunteers to organize storage rooms and help build phase II of its playground facility, which included creating a sandpit, installing a shade spot and making outdoor chalkboards.
“Last year, the students accomplished more work than we had planned. They painted six rooms and did all the outdoor work as well. The parents were amazed,” Graves said. “This year, I realized I needed to be organized and ready for them.”
A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
Interest in health education and health care in underserved, poverty stricken countries has increased in recent years. Approximately 25 percent of U.S. medical students graduate with international medical experience. In 2011 the AOA-BIOM reported that most medical students who have some international experience while in medical school had a tendency to become primary care physicians. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission has urged all West Virginia colleges and universities to have some kind of international exposure program in their curricular offerings. WVSOM offers rotations to third and fourth year students. To date over 100 students have visited mostly underserved populations in Africa, India, Asia and Latin America. WVSOM students rotations included: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, the Republic of Georgia, and Zambia, to name only a few. First and second-year students may take spring break medical delegation trips and during the summer break, all students may travel to other countries for outreach opportunities and medical education in areas such as infectious disease and third world clinical experience.
To date more than 100 students have benefited FROM AN INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
SERVICE TO OTHERS
WVSOM students engage in service projects within Greenbrier County, the state of West Virginia and beyond. In 2014, each of the 26 student organizations chose a local nonprofit partner. These local partner organizations received service and/or funds from WVSOM student initiatives to address critical needs.
A CORE VALUE
WVSOM believes so strongly in service to others that it is one of the school’s core values. The meaningful assistance that students provide to worthy causes – in large ways and small – advance WVSOM’s greater mission of service to the state and to its residents.
Students pursue service projects with humility and respect, learning from each opportunity the myriad of inequalities in our society. THESE EFFORTS EMPOWER THEM AND TRANSFORM THEIR LIVES.
