LMU
Prepares to Host Remote Area Medical Clinic
Harrogate, Tennessee, June 15, 2006—
With girls basketball teams sprinting from baseline
to baseline on the court of Tex Turner Arena, its hard
to believe that in two months time the same floor will
be covered with dental equipment, but as Remote Area
Medical Volunteer Corps (RAM) founder Stan Brock did
laps around the arena on Wednesday, he was picturing
just that.
“There is plenty of room here
for the dental, we can do 25 chairs or more” Brock
said. “Where can we set up a dark room for the
optical examinations? We’ll also need a patient
holding area and private rooms for doctor consultations.
We can house it all in here, it is just getting it all
pulled together.”
Brock and his RAM team members, Jean
Jolly, Linda Rogers and Ron Brewer, met with Lincoln
Memorial University (LMU) officials in preparation for
the August 19 and 20 clinic the University will be hosting.
Guiding the RAM team around were LMU president Nancy
B. Moody and trustees Pete DeBusk, Gary Burchett and
Joseph C. Smiddy and Joseph F. Smiddy. Both the senior
and the junior Smiddy are medical doctors who have been
involved with RAM for many years. It was Joseph F. Smiddy,
the junior, who first suggested that LMU get involved
with the organization, which provides free medical services
to remote areas both in the United States and all over
the world.
“Having long been involved in
the work Remote Area Medical does and seeing what it
has given our neighbors in Wise County, Virginia, I
thought it would be ideal to bring it to the people
of this area,” Joseph F. Smiddy said. “Add
to that the excitement, energy and medical resources
that the proposed DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine
has brought to campus and it seemed like an ideal time
to get the program started.”
RAM provides a wide range of free basic
health, dental and optical services to the people of
Southwest Virginia, Eastern Kentucky and Northeast Tennessee.
The Knoxville-based organization also provides services
in other nations across the world. Founded in 1985,
Remote Area Medical is a publicly supported all volunteer
charitable organization with no paid employees. Volunteer
doctors, nurses, pilots, veterinarians and support workers
participate in expeditions (at their own expense) in
some of the world's most exciting places, as well as
right here in our own country. Medical supplies, medicines,
facilities and vehicles are donated.
Brock experienced the need to get medical
care to people in inaccessible regions first hand while
living for 15 years with the Wapishana Indians in the
Amazon rain forest. When he left South America to do
the Wild Kingdom television series, he found medically
helpless populations throughout the world. His deep
desire to find a way to take health care to people who
had none was the seed of RAM.
While on campus, the RAM team toured
the Tex Turner Arena and the Veterinary Science facility,
going over the logistics of the event with LMU personnel.
RAM has successfully completed over 462 free clinics
in the past, including some recent programs in post-Katrina
New Orleans. One of the organizations largest clinics
takes place in Wise County, Virginia, where the annual
clinic totaled over 6,000 patient encounters and $1.3
million worth of free health and dental services last
July.
The LMU event, which will be housed
in Tex Turner arena with the exception of veterinary
services, will provide optical, dental, health and veterinary
services to the public free of charge. Optical treatment
includes exams, diagnosis of eye disease, some treatment
and fitting of eyeglasses. Cleaning, fillings and extractions
will be available in the dental area and general health
care services will cover a wide range of services. RAM
also plans to provide veterinary services at LMU’s
Veterinary Science facility. This will include spay
and neutering, some rabies vaccinations and inoculations
and other services.
"LMU’s mission has always
been to serve the people of rural Appalachia, this is
just another way we are giving back to this community,”
Moody said. “This will also be an opportunity
for our students and faculty members to gain practical
experience and help their fellow man. Our nursing, medical
technology and veterinary technology students will all
be involved.”
LMU and RAM will continue to work out
the logistics of what could become an annual event in
the coming months. The team expects anywhere from 800
to 1200 patient encounters during this inaugural event
for Claiborne County and hopes to draw patients from
Claiborne and Campbell Counties in Tennessee, as well
as Bell County, Kentucky and Lee County, Virginia. With
that many patients, the University will need over 300
volunteers over the course of the weekend to accommodate
the crowd. LMU is currently recruiting volunteers. Interested
persons are asked to contact LMU Director of Public
Relations Kate Reagan at (423) 869-6389 or kate.Reagan@lmunet.edu
for more information. The University is also recruiting
dentists, ophthalmologists and doctors to staff the
clinics. Interested medical professionals are encouraged
to log on to RAM’s website at www.ramusa.org for
more information.
The clinic will open its doors at 6:30
a.m. on Saturday, August 19 and Sunday, August 20. Patients
are encouraged to arrive early. “The biggest thing
is for people to arrive early,” Brock said. “Other
than that, they don’t need to bring anything.
The doctors will ask some basic medical history questions,
but they do not need to bring anything else.”
RAM has hosted clinics at everything
from high schools to fair grounds, but according to
Brock LMU will be the first University to host such
an event.
"LMU’s mission has always
been to serve the people of rural Appalachia, this is
just another way we are giving back to this community,”
Moody said. “This will also be an opportunity
for our students and faculty members to gain practical
experience and help their fellow man. Our nursing, medical
technology and veterinary technology students will all
be involved.”
Lincoln Memorial University is a values-based
learning community dedicated to providing educational
experiences in the liberal arts and professional studies.
The main campus is located in Harrogate, Tennessee.
For more information about the undergraduate and graduate
programs available at LMU, contact the Office of Admissions
at 423-869-6280 or e-mail at admissions@lmunet.edu.
For more information, contact: Kate
Reagan, Director of Public Relations
Phone: 423-869-6389
Fax: 423-869-6370
E-mail: kate.reagan@lmunet.edu
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