'Beyond What We Imagined': Pitt Medical Students Create School-Wide Community Service Effort To Help Others During Coronavirus Pandemic
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Medical students across the country have been sidelined for weeks, unable to work in hospitals due to their clinical rotations being canceled.
Students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine are still finding ways to pitch in during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ben Zuchelkowski, Sarah Minney, Carly O'Connor-Terry, Tejasvi Gowda and Jane Kwon — all medical students at Pitt — created a small initiative less than two months ago, which has turned into 412Med, a school-wide community service effort.
The program focuses on childcare, medication delivery, education and community outreach in the Pittsburgh area.
Minney, a fourth-year medical student, says it began as a way for her and the other co-founders to help out.
"We anticipated many clinics would be short-staffed because of health care workers getting sick, or because their children would be out of school or out of daycare, that they might need to stay home," Minney said.
The immediate response from community groups, either wanting to help or needing help, was shocking to the five founders.
"The volume of work that we did exploded beyond what we imagined," said Kwon, a fourth-year medical student.
412Med quickly became a large-scale effort and now provides several different services.
Co-founders highlighted the group's work with the Center for Victims in Pittsburgh to provide education about intimate partner violence.
They have also developed a coronavirus infographic for those with intellectual disabilities.
"We've just been trying to assess what people need and trying to address that need," said O'Connor-Terry, a fourth-year medical student and research scholar. "We've had a lot of help from all of the student body."
Fellow students came out in droves to volunteer.
"We initially just assessed interest in volunteering in general, and we got probably over 200 responses," O'Connor-Terry said.
Now, Pitt medical students at all levels are volunteering with 412Med, giving the organization the ability to serve a large, diverse group.
"I think students are really just looking for a way to transfer their skills and help the community when otherwise, we felt kind of helpless," said Minney.
The five founders intend to pass the organization down to younger students and intend for it to last after the pandemic is over.
More information is available on 412Med's website here.
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