On 19th July the Saint James School of Medicine opened its doors to the people of Anguilla for the annual Health Fair. A wide range of health tests were available and most visitors took the chance to have everything checked. You could have your blood pressure checked, get your blood sugar done, see if you might be anaemic and even get your stress levels tested, amongst a whole range of other tests!
The event attracted the full range of people, from the very young to the very old, from the fighting fit to the frail and immobile. In spite of the two power outages that interrupted the proceedings, we still had a good turn out and were able to reassure most visitors that they were in reasonable health, at least as far as these tests were concerned.
Saint James sees this function as being one small way in which it can reach out to Anguilla and use the skills of its students and clinical faculty to good advantage for the population. The event, co-organised by the students and the faculty, has become something of a fixture in the annual scene of the island, with the students keenly anticipating an opportunity to help the local people, as well as to get to know some of them better.
We believe this is a win-win situation in that we can provide a service to the Anguillian people, at the same time as our students get more experience in applying their developing skills. We intend to carry on staging this event as long as it continues to be of benefit to all.
Dr. Bruce Davidson
Dean of Student Affairs
