ICOM holds first health fair

The Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, Idaho’s only medical school, held its first-ever community health fair on Feb. 8. at its campus in Meridian.

Nearly 120 first-year and second-year students at ICOM were involved in the fair. Attendees received complimentary health screenings, osteopathic manipulative treatment, health education classes and a variety of other resources.

In addition to the services offered by ICOM students and staff, the Saint Alphonsus Mobile Mammography Bus was also part of the fair. The bus and its traveling staff of health care professionals provided digital mammograms, clinical breast exams and bone density screenings for participants.

Representatives from the region’s other major health network, St. Luke’s Health System, taught a number of “Stop the Bleed” courses, which showed participants how to recognize the symptoms of life-threatening bleeding and intervene effectively.

“ICOM’s first annual health fair was a great success!” said Thomas Mohr, D.O., ICOM’s dean and chief academic officer. “Our medical students were able to practice their skills while providing high-quality health screenings for our neighbors and friends. ICOM is the Treasure Valley’s own medical school, and we look forward to being a valuable resource for health promotion and disease prevention in partnership with our colleagues in the local medical community.”

Members of ICOM’s community outreach committee, led by students Kiefer Starks, Faith Spratt and Michal Kozdronkiewicz, organized the health fair.

“The ICOM Community Health Fair is an initiative that allows medical students to be involved in making a contribution to the health of the community by providing free access to health services,” Starks said. “We hope to make this an annual event that positively impacts the local community.”

The students provided the bulk of the work involved in the fair. Their contributions included examining, treating and directing patients; setting up booths; and ensuring that equipment and supplies were available throughout the event.

ICOM was founded in 2016. It matriculated its first class of student in August 2018 and its second class in August 2019. It will graduate its first doctors in spring 2022. Besides being Idaho’s only medical school, ICOM recently became the first Apple Distinguished School in Idaho in November 2019 because of its state-of-the-art IT-enabled campus.