Early on the last Saturday morning in August, a team of 42 Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine (RVUCOM) second-year medical students and faculty members assembled to donate their time for a unique community service project. The group of current and future physicians gathered at Denver's Morey Middle School to provide free athletic physical examinations to Morey students who wished to participate in intramural and intermural sports during the school year.
While the examinations were required for athletic participation at Morey Middle School, many of the students who came to receive the exams might have faced challenges attempting to schedule the examinations through a clinic or private physician. Jill Pitcher, D.O. president of the Denver Osteopathic Medical Association (DOMA) learned of the situation at Morey and coordinated the activity with the assistance of fellow DOMA member, Timothy Judd, D.O., RVUCOM faculty and the RVUCOM Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOM
A).
The Morey students and their parents arrived at the school gymnasium to be greeted by RVUCOM medical students and a process that would move the children through seven separate medical stations. Prior to the examinations the students and their parents had completed a form that provided a summary of the student's medical history. This form assisted in helping the physicians from RVUCOM and DOMA establish a baseline for conducting each student's examination.
The examination stations at Morey were organized so that a team of RVUCOM medical students and faculty could work together with a unique group of Morey students. Each examination station focused on one specialized area of the examination process.
After the initial check in which included a vitals screening including a blood pressure, vision, height and weight check, each of the Morey students proceeded through a separate examination station for ear, nose, throat and vision screenings; cardiac and pulmonary screenings; lower abdominal screenings; musculoskeletal, extremities and spine screenings; and neurological screenings. The final station in the process was a check-out table where each student was notified if she or he had "passed" the physical and was eligible to participate in the athletic event of their choice.
RVUCOM medical students performed much of the actual work of conducting the examinations while under the supervision of the following RVUCOM faculty members: Joseph Stasio, D.O.; Thomas Told, D.O.; Camille Bentley, D.O., Kelli Glaser, D.O.; and Matthew Harrison, D.O. In addition, both Dr. Pitcher and Dr. Judd of the Denver Osteopathic Medical Association participated in the activity.
The RVUCOM team was lead by Dr. Kelli Glaser and was one of many such activities that RVUCOM students and faculty volunteer their time to conduct during the year. According to Dr. Glaser, "RVUCOM is a community-focused educational institution.
Our participation in these kinds of activities and events is part of our philosophical approach to medicine and is characteristic of who we are as an organization."
Morey Middle School was built in 1921 and was designed to be Denver's largest junior high school. The building construction was expensive for that time period because the school was designed to incorporate many unique architectural features including a tiled swimming pool. The pool still exists today as the only middle school swimming pool in the city.
Morey Middle School is located at 840 East 14th Street near the heart of Denver.