Community Outreach
The Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences (PCHCS) values community and strives to make a positive contribution in service throughout the multiple professions. Students are given the opportunity to provide service in their chose profession from local/domestic initiatives to those internationally based. Below is a list of community outreach efforts conducted by our students, faculty, and staff throughout the college.
In the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico- faculty and students in NSU's Physical Therapy department on both the Tampa Bay and Fort Lauderdale campuses began performing screenings on the island. Beginning in 2018, several faculty and students began raising money for much needed supplies. Dr. Olivencia, a Puerto Rican native led the Fort Lauderdale team to the island to help assist.
Over the years, the program has grown, and we are excited to see it continue to grow. Opportunities exist for faculty and students to continue offering screenings on-site as well as for the larger community to be an agent for community growth through donation.
The medical outreach trip to Jamaica was started by the Dr. Kiran Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (KPCOM)'s Student National Medical Association (SNMA). SNMA has partnered with the local organization Women of Health Occupations Promoting Education for over 20 years! While the trip was started in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the experience takes an interdisciplinary approach. One example of this, is over the 20 years the Occupational Therapy program has helped the collaboration care for over 85,000 patients!
The students work under the supervision of a health professional in a multidisciplinary setting to provide health care to people in need in various parishes throughout Jamaica. Post-pandemic, we have primarily focused our efforts in St. Mary, a parish we have gone to since its inception. The students get the opportunity to diagnose and treat patients and pay an integral part in caring for the patient population being served. The students work side-by-side with students from other disciplines to provide collaborative treatment plans. For example, this exposure helps those on the mission to understand the Occupational Therapy profession and the specific skills that set them apart from Physical Therapy (which is not always clear to those outside the profession).
Taking part in this outreach trip provides a great opportunity for students to submerge themselves into another culture and see how environment and upbring can influence health seeking behaviors.
Project SEED (Serving Everyone, Embracing Diversity) is centered on the NSU Core Values and has become an annual event for the students, faculty, and staff at the Fort Myers Campus to rally behind. In preparation for the event, boxes of gently used clothing and shoes are gathered and delivered to people in need in Immokalee.
Additionally, students in the Physician Assistant program on the Fort Myers campus help local residents by providing gloves and protective glasses, donations, blood pressure and glucose testing, hosting a nutrition booth, sports equipment, and much more!
More information to come!
Your support and philanthropy allows us to continue to broaden our reach, and to improve the lives of those we serve. Your donation enables us to provide services and at-times equipment to those in need.
Please consider making a gift to truly make a difference in someone's life. To learn more, please contact (954) 262-1024 or email studentaffairschcs@nova.edu.
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