Community service is a public health intervention, whether it is paid or done at free will. It is a deed where both community and volunteers get the equal benefit. Moreover, public health programs rely on community services to give their students exposure to health and environmental crises, such as mental health, pandemic, epidemic, outbreaks, or even vaccination. And the good part is that you do not require any academic degree to help people.
I believe in giving back and making difference to bring change
Priyanka Patel
Huntsville AL (2013-2016)
Helped organization to sort, pack, arrange the goods. Every Thursday, the organization served local citizens with fresh food, grocery and items they need to survive. Not only food items but local and national brands donated essential items for the women and children including clothes, sanitary pads and diapers.
Coordinated the registration process and solicited fund for children rights from the Indian sub-community
Edison, NJ
Leisure time well spent at the rehabilitation center of the John F. Kennedy medical center in Edison, NJ. I was mainly assigned to comfort patient such as providing fresh water, juice or assist with the phone call, talk or read it to them. I helped nurse station with restocking supplies, dropping the biological sample to the lab for testing and arranged files and folder for the doctors to review.
Norfolk, VA
In 2019, the public health program established an association for the students called Public Health Student Association. One of the mission or pillars you can say of the PHSA is community services. I serve as a president, and our goal was to dedicate some of our time to the community. Giving back is what I believe in. The picture on the left shows when we volunteer at the food bank to help organize and sort the food cans.
In January 2020, I volunteered at the Oceanfront Library with my team and PHSA faculty advisor to assist the homeless population with their primary need. The activity was in collaboration with the Dental Hygiene, Nursing, and Human Services. We provided free dental and health screening, sources to get more help with their basic needs such as transportation, Medicaid, and housing. It was an eye-opening experience for me to see what people go through in their life and how much we can do to help them.
PHSA approached assisted living facility in February 2020, right before the COVID19 lockdown. The event was organized to the educated elderly population about what they should eat or avoid. We provided brochures and flyers with an explanation of the nutritional content and recommended serving size. We took the creative approach to educate these elderly ladies with some fun games like trivia. We received very positive feedback, and they even recommended the topic they wanted to learn in our next session with them. However, COVID19 restricted our services.
During the summer of 2020, I signed up for the Norfolk Medical Reserve Corp to volunteer. So far I have made the best decision. I assisted the epidemiologist with the COVID19 case investigation. First few days, I helped with the registration, and I found out about the real public health work happening at the second of Norfolk Health Department. My Coordinator asked me to sign up for the epic-strike team. I enjoyed and learned how the health department deals with the cover19 case investigation.