Nursing students participate in Remote Area Medical (RAM) event
From July 16 to 18, nine nursing students, three nursing alumni and one faculty member attended the Remote Area Medical event in Wise County, Virginia. The event is the largest free health care outreach event in the country, serving the patients in the Appalachian region predominantly. The students were paired with pharmacy students and preceptors to rotate through a variety of areas, including triage, medicine reconciliation, pharmacy, smoking cessation and dental procedure assistance. This year the event was host to the first Federal Aviation Administration approved drone delivery of medical supplies. The RAM event typically sees over 2,000 patients and performs over 5,000 different patient service encounters. Dental is a main focus of the event, but medical and vision are also areas where patients can seek care. Last year, a total of 3207 extractions were performed over the course of three days and a total estimate of close to $2,000,000 in patient care performed in all services. This is the fourth year that nursing students have attended the RAM event. Students volunteered their time and participated in three student-led workshops prior to the event to prepare for the patient encounters.
