Perspectives Spring 2015

PERSPECTIVES • SPRING 2015 14 lead others to support the greater good. The broad range of student support initia- tives, leadership opportunities, and com- munity engagement experiences are a result of the collaborative commitment from faculty members across the college, the student affairs team, and a cadre of talented student leaders. The following section highlights a few of the many inter- professional initiatives our academic pro- grams are leading across the state. CHCS I NTERPROFESSIONAL C OLLABORATION H IGHLIGHTS Physician assistant students in Fort Myers host an annual event called Project Seed for migrant workers in Immokalee in which they provide free health screen- ings, mammograms, clothing, protective eyewear, and bicycles to those in need and invite nursing students and others to join them to promote interprofes- sional collaboration. To learn more, please visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Project- SEED/100431960050299. CHCS students from the anesthesiolo- gist assistant and physician assistant pro- grams join the T. Leroy Jefferson Medical Society Career Symposium. Each year, this event brings professionals from the health care and biotech industries together with at-risk youths to support their career aspirations. Additional information re- garding the T. Leroy Jefferson Medical Society and its events can be found at http://www.tljmedicalsociety.org/#sthash.wa5ils GQ.dpbs. Physician assistant students in Jack- sonville provide annual hearing and vision screening exams to students at 12 elemen- tary schools in Saint John’s County every fall. The PA students collaborate with Saint John’s County School Board-ap- pointed audiology and optometry profes- sionals to deliver this service to more than 5,000 children yearly. Interprofessional community engage- ment is a goal of the college’s Entry-Level Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. Now entering its 12 th year, the physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant, and community nursing students and faculty members conduct an annual diabetes health fair at the Miami Lakes Education Center (MLEC). In collabora- tion with the MLEC Health Academy high school students, over 600 students are screened annually that day. High school students at high risk for diabetes are re- ferred for follow-up care. Since the pro- gram’s inception, over 5,000 screenings have been conducted. Based on the exit in- terviews that were done at the completion of the screenings, active learning takes place both at the screening and over time with repeated annual screens. For addi- tional information, please contact Dr. Debra Stern at debras@nova.edu . Audiology students and faculty mem- bers work in collaboration with speech- language pathology students and faculty members to provide aural rehabilitation group therapy sessions to individuals in the community. The audiology and speech- language pathology students meet to plan the topic and materials for each session. Subsequently, students and faculty mem- bers meet weekly with hearing impaired individuals and their significant others to provide education and practice communi- cation strategies/techniques to improve overall communication abilities for better quality of life. PA Fort Myers 2015 Ethics Bowl winners announced after competing against 11 other teams from all programs in the Health Professions Division. The Ethics Bowl gives students an educational opportunity to learn more about ethics in health care in an interprofessional setting.