VCOM - Virginia 2017 Yearbook

HCMO Hispanic Community Medical Outreach

Marcie Costello, President; Daniel Valencia, Vice President; Nick Snow, Secretary; Jenni Li Wong, Treasurer

T he Hispanic Community Medical Outreach (HCMO) strives to increase health in Hispanic communities through education and increased access to healthcare. HCMO carries out its initiatives through medical outreach programs involving health screenings and osteopathic treatments. HCMO works to promote cultural awareness through social events. Also, HCMO helps improve the Spanish language skills of the VCOM student body and encourages involvement in medical mission trips to Spanish speaking countries to help build usable skills.

■ ■ HCMO hosts lunches twice a month where medical terminology is reviewed in Spanish and patient encounters are practiced. ■ ■ Many VCOM students go on mission trips to foreign countries each year and with the increasing diversity in the patient population in the United States, working with an interpreter seems inevitable. In partnership with MMSA, HCMO hosted a “How to Work with a Medical Interpreter” workshop in the spring of 2016 for the “do’s and don’ts” of working with medical interpreters. In collaboration with SAAO and the Pediatrics Student Organization, HCMO

held a health fair at Holy Spirit Catholic Church where they conducted blood pressure and blood glucose screenings and taught about OMM and nutrition. One HCMO member also led an outdoor Zumba class. ■ ■ Members of HCMO choreographed a dance that combined tango, salsa, merengue and bachata and performed it at SNMA’s annual Multicultural Show in the spring of 2016. ■ ■ During Welcome Week, HCMO hosted dinner at El Mariachi to welcome the Class of 2020 to VCOM.

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