Tuesday, 20 November 2018
by Rasha Ahmed Abdalla Taha Eid, MD 2023
On Saturday 17 November, a group of medical student volunteers participated in the mobile clinic expedition that took place in Ermou square in Larnaca. As soon as the students arrived on location, they set up their equipment in preparation for the day ahead. The students encouraged pedestrians to have their blood pressure measured, in order to facilitate the early detection and prevention of certain conditions such as prostate and testicular cancer, in honour of Movember.
Beside the blood pressure station, there was a barber’s station operated by the Movember organisers where men could have their beards shaved free of charge leaving them with their moustaches, to help spread awareness about men’s health issues.
It was a great opportunity for the students to apply particular communication skills, while initiating rapport with the pedestrians. Sometimes language barriers emerged as some students found it difficult to communicate in Greek, but Greek-speakers on the team (doctors and other students) stepped in and helped to fill those gaps.
This was a new experience for some of the student volunteers, but overall everyone enjoyed taking part and felt privileged to have been able to participate in this annual event.
THE TEAM OF VOLUNTEERS
Students: Apostolos Karanikas Brianna Leahy, Bridget Pincus, Despoina Biri, Kikelomo Olupona, Lama ZenEddin, Liat Hirsch, Mohammed Khan, Neil Thomas, Niv Levin, Omar Eid, Prusothman Yoganantharajah, Rasha Eid, Suresh Seneviratne, Tamara Simpson, Zelda Perri
Doctors: Evie Vassiliou, Demetris Christou, Christodoulos Yerosimou, Nicos Michael, George Kyratzis
Staff: Argyris Evangelou