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Tech students organize seventh annual free medical clinic
Tech students Dominick Coker, Alex Stovall, and Alexander Coker volunteer at last
year's RAM clinic
Tennessee Tech University students will once again host the seventh annual Upper Cumberland
Remote Area Medical clinic to be held at Cookeville High School on March 18-19.
Remote Area Medical, or RAM, is a major nonprofit provider of free pop-up clinics.
Their mission is to prevent pain and alleviate suffering by providing free, quality
healthcare to those in need. They do this by delivering free dental, vision and medical
services to underserved and uninsured individuals.
“This RAM clinic is completely organized by Tech students. We recruit all the local
providers, talk to businesses about donating food and money and promote the clinic
to the community,” Alex Stovall, Upper Cumberland Community Host Group lead, said.
“This group is a special group that I am humbled to work with and bring these amazing
services to Cookeville.”
Stovall, a senior biology major at Tech with a cellular, molecular concentration from
McMinnville, became involved with RAM in his freshman year because of its mission
to provide for the underserved in the community.
“Every clinic I have been to continues to remind me that there are still those out
there that are not able to afford care, specifically dental care, and do not have
an understanding about the effects oral health has on their overall health,” Stovall
said.
With Medicaid now covering dental work, there is a promising future to reach those
patients, according to Stovall, but there is a lack of dentists in rural areas as
well as dentists that are willing to take on the financial burdens that come with
Medicaid.
“So, RAM and dental clinics like it are still so important to these rural communities
because the current coverage for poor, rural communities is severely lacking,” Stovall
said.
This year’s clinic will have more dentists and professional volunteers than last year,
according to Janet Coonce, senior chemistry instructor and advisor at Tech. Several
hundred Tech students, faculty and staff are involved in organizing and volunteering
at the clinic.
In addition to Stovall, there are four other leads that organize different sections
of the clinic. Alexander Coker, hospitality lead; Dominick Coker, fundraising and
parking lot lead; Maggie Teat, promotions lead; and Austin McCowan, recruitment lead,
are all part of the team.
These students work together with students and faculty in nutrition, nursing, chemistry
and biochemistry to help fundraise and organize the clinic details. They are also
in communication with student organizations at both Tech and in other states around
the country to ensure there are enough volunteers, according to Coonce. The host group
has partnered with the CRMC Foundation, Cookeville High School, local churches and
local hotels.
“I'm incredibly impressed with how well our Tech students have done fundraising
and preparing for our seventh annual RAM Clinic at CHS,” Coonce said.
They are looking to expand their efforts from last year in increasing their dental
capacity considering the needs within this area. They work with RAM Headquarters,
and their technology has allowed them to reorganize some parts of the clinic to make
patient flow more efficient and increase the number of patients that we can see without
compromising the quality of care.
One of the largest changes is the reduction of waiting time between patients. Last
year there was a 20-minute wait for sterilization of the operating rooms, and it has
been reduced to a 3-minute wait, according to Stovall. This is due to a relaxation
in Covid restrictions which will allow the professionals to see quite a few more patients.
“It has been my motto to always improve from last year and we have been successful
so far. With these changes, I have high hopes that we will be able to see more patients
this year,” Stovall said. “I am optimistic that this clinic will be able to have a
large impact on Putnam County and the surrounding counties. Especially since there
is still a large patient base that Medicaid won't be provided for due to the current
limitations.”
There are several organizations that help the organizers at the clinics. RAM Headquarters
brings the equipment necessary to provide the dental, medical and vision care. The
organizers also work with many different businesses that donate money or in-kind donations
and provide discounts for food, hotel rooms for volunteers, according to Stovall.
“Professor Coonce, Jim Gray and John Bell, CRMC foundation director, have been very
helpful advising us and their knowledge and experience has been invaluable,” Stovall
said. “I would like to make a special recognition to all the previous UCCHG members
that have since graduated Tech. The success of this clinic has been built upon the
shoulders of those before us and none of this is possible without them.”
Since RAM was founded in 1985, over 183,000 volunteers – composed of professional
practitioners, as well as general support staff – have treated more than 900,000 individuals
delivering more than $181.5 million worth of free healthcare services.
For more information about RAM Clinics visit https://www.ramusa.org/.
