Breaking News
Community News

Medical residents prescribe real talk to Wood County students

By Brett Dunlap 4 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Medical residents from WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center were in schools Thursday talking to students about health concerns and careers in the healthcare field.

The Residents in Schools program, being offered through a partnership between Camden Clark and the Wood County Board of Education, lets medical residents in Internal Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy to visit local K-12 students to discuss health, wellness and careers in healthcare.

The partnership was established to provide age-appropriate health educational programming to inform students on topics ranging from healthy lifestyle habits, hygiene, proper handwashing to prevent the spread of germs, health risks associated with vaping, first aid and others, according to a press release from Camden Clark.

The medical center has 18 medicine residents, two pharmacy residents and three nursing residents participating in the program, said Dr. Michael Cheshire, Director of the Internal Medicine Residency program through the West Virginia University School of Medicine.

"The residents really care about people and they really care about health, the health of the individual and the health of the community," he said. "This is really an opportunity to get out and have a long-lasting impact on young people.

"That can pay dividends throughout a person's lifetime. It is very rewarding to be a part of that."

During their time at Camden Clark residents are involved with academics, scholarly activities and clinical activities.

"It is more than that, we also provide service to the community," Dr. Cheshire said. "(Thursday) is all about that service component.

"The residents are out in the schools providing health information to students, but it is more than that. It is forming connections with the students. We have young professionals serving as role models for young people."

The residents spoke Thursday at Parkersburg South High School, Greenmont Elementary, Kanawha Elementary and Jackson Middle School. The residents will speak next Thursday, April 20 at Emerson Elementary, Lubeck Elementary, Mineral Wells Elementary and Hamilton Middle School.

Cheshire said the topics they are discussing are things they are seeing daily at the medical center from the dangers of smoking and vaping in relation to long-term diseases of the lungs to how handwashing can help cut down the spread of infectious disease and more.

At a class at South on Thursday, residents were talking about the dangers of vaping with students, its addictive nature and how companies are targeting them even though many students are under the age of 18.

"I hope the students gain some useful health information," Cheshire said. "Through that connection with a young professional I think there is potential to see them as role models and start to consider what they can achieve."

It is good to have different people come in and talk with the students to gain different perspectives on topics, said health teacher Taylor Foster.

"It gives the kids who are doing really well in school it gives them something to look forward to and gives them other role models to look at," she said.

The residents are looking at providing information to the students, based on what they are already seeing at the medical center.

"Right now I see a lot of patients in the hospital who come in with lung injuries that are chronic and who have been dealing with it for many years," said Dr. Eswar Gadde. "They tell me they started smoking or doing vaping when they were 12-13-years old.

"In order to make a bigger impact this is a point where we need to make a start."

The students are more receptive to taking in this information from people who are closer to their own age, said Pharmacist Allison Lawrence who heads the Pharmacy Residency Program.

The earlier they can reach students about the dangers of smoking and vaping, the better, said Dr. Mallori Anderson, adding they still don't know many of the long-term effects of vaping.

"I feel like we are going to see those effects later on," she said. "It is really important to educate young people about a not-so-good habit."

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

Starting at /week.