GA-PCOM Pharmacy Students Donate Diabetes Supplies to Under-served Clinics

(SUWANEE, GA – February 13, 2015) This January, pharmacy students from Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GA-PCOM) prepared diabetes care packages to benefit patients at local, underserved medical clinics. One of these clinics, the Good Samaritan Health Center of Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, is a nonprofit health clinic that serves uninsured members of the community.

Pharmacy students, precepted by School of Pharmacy faculty member Jennifer Elliott, PharmD, staff the clinic several days a week. Other clinical staff members at the center include a medical director, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Services provided include child and adult exams, chronic disease management, preventive care and women’s health. According to Executive Director Gregory Lang, PhD, patients pay fees for services, while individual donations and grants subsidize the fees.

Each year, Walgreens awards money to student organizations on campus. This year, student leaders from these organizations, including the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP), the National Community Pharmacy Association (NCPA), and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), decided to combine these funds to make a bigger impact on the community. They made the decision to purchase supplies such as exam gloves, alcohol swabs, first aid kits, antibacterial bandages and diabetes awareness booklets to help the center support patients living with diabetes.

Walgreens grants $1,200 to applicants who plan to use the funds in their communities. GA-PCOM members of the AMCP contributed supplies to the center last year, but this year envisioned a way to extend their support even more.

“We wanted to expand our outreach by joining with other student organizations,” said pharmacy student and AMCP president Andrea Douglas (PharmD ‘16). Together – in addition to the 25 bags sent to Good Samaritan – the AMCP, NCPA, and APhA were able to assemble another 125 supply bags to be sent to other underserved clinics; the Good News Clinics in Gainesville and a Morehouse Healthcare Clinic in Atlanta, both received 25 packages each, while the Ruby A. Neeson Diabetes Awareness Foundation, based in Duluth, received 75 supply bags. The student leaders hope that their contributions will aid the clinics in supporting healthcare in these underserved areas of the community.

About GA-PCOM

Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GA-PCOM) is a private, not-for-profit branch campus of the fully accredited Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, a multi-program institution with a 115 year tradition of educational excellence. GA-PCOM offers the doctor of osteopathic medicine degree, the doctor of pharmacy degree and a master’s degree in biomedical sciences. The campus includes the Georgia Osteopathic Care Center, an osteopathic manipulative medicine clinic, which is open to the public by appointment. For more information, visit www.pcom.edu or call 678-225-7500.

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