VCOM 2021 Annual Report

OUTREACH

Carolinas Outreach Grant for Preventive Healthcare - VCOM- Carolinas Discipline Chair for Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Alexis Stoner, PhD, was awarded a grant to further preventive healthcare in the Spartanburg, SC area. This is a one-year project with a $10,000 budget. Mobile Vaccine Clinic - From October 2020 through May 2021, VCOM-Carolinas partnered with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and Cherokee County School District to carry out the mission of serving communities most in need. VCOM’s faculty and student volunteers took the Mobile Medical Unit to specific schools in Cherokee County to administer recommended vaccinations to public school children. The Mobile Medical Unit also traveled to sites across Upstate counties, providing flu shots to the public. Food Drive for Children - In the holiday spirit, VCOM-Carolinas delivered food for the College’s annual food drive at Arcadia Elementary School in Spartanburg, SC. Student Services organized the drive to benefit the school’s many children who live below the poverty line. Students, faculty and staff generously contributed canned goods, peanut butter, rice, beans and much more to the effort.

Vaccine Clinic in Charleston - Students from VCOM-Carolinas Class of 2022 served the Charleston, South Carolina, community at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic on March 13. This volunteer effort was planned rapidly due to community needs, and the students only had a day’s notice before donating their time and skill. Administer Vaccines - VCOM-Carolinas students spent Saturday, March 20, 2021, in Charleston, South Carolina helping administer COVID-19 vaccinations. The students helped vaccinate approximately 500 individuals. Vaccines in Spartanburg - VCOM-Carolinas students and faculty volunteered their time on Saturday, March 20, 2021, to vaccinate 1,000 individuals in the Spartanburg community. The event was held in the Dorman High School gymnasium in Spartanburg. Vaccine Drive at Local Church - VCOM-Carolinas teamed up with ReGenesis Healthcare to hold a vaccine administration event at a local church on Palm Sunday. The vaccine clinic was held at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Spartanburg, SC. Doralyn Jones, DO, VCOM-Carolinas Associate Chair for Family Medicine and Director for Diversity, was joined by about 15 students. The VCOM medical students administered the vaccinations to congregants and members of the public.

VCOM partnered with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to open a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in the Northside of Spartanburg, SC, on March 1, 2021. The clinic gave out 50-100 vaccines a day, five days a week, to combat the pandemic.

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