Building Infrastructure and Good Health, UA Health Professions Students Will Offer Health Screenings for Construction Workers on May 26

Construction surrounds the University of Arizona Health Sciences campus and as summer approaches, UA health professions students will show their appreciation for the construction team’s efforts by hosting health screenings and providing public health information sessions to keep the workers healthy.

The health fair will take place  Friday, May 26, 10 a.m.– noon, at the Hippocrates Plaza on the west side of the UA Health Sciences Campus, directly across from the HSIB construction site.

Approximately 30 interprofessional student volunteers will host five health-care stations offering free lunch, health education and disease-prevention information to the construction team building the new Health Sciences Innovation Building (HSIB). The students will offer glucose screening, blood-pressure monitoring and information on sun safety, hydration, nutrition and smoking cessation to approximately 100 construction workers.

By providing a free health fair for the construction workers, the UA Health Sciences students are looking to personalize the construction worker’s experience on the UA Health Sciences campus by showing them how their efforts in constructing the new building will contribute to the health of the Tucson community and the entire state.

“As medical students, we have a commitment to improve our community, our involvement in our community characterizes the student body. To us, the construction workers are part of our community; they greet us with a friendly good morning and welcome us to campus every day, always ensuring we are safe as we walk by the construction site,” said Arturo Martinez, first–year medical student at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson and member of the UA Health Sciences Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s Student Diversity Advisory Committee. 

Organizers include medical students from the UA Health Sciences Office of Diversity and Inclusions’ Student Diversity Advisory Committee (SDAC), comprised of UA College of Medicine – Tucson students. Additional volunteers include a group of interprofessional students from the Commitment to Underserved People (CUP) Program, the Family Medicine Interest Group, the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and UA College of Pharmacy.    

In the future, the students plan to hold a health fair in support of the construction workers of the new Banner – University Medical Center Tucson tower and the Biosciences Research Laboratory.

For the health fair event Friday, the site superintendent agreed to shift and extend the construction workers’ lunch break to give the workers an opportunity to obtain information on their health and tips on being healthy employees, as the summer heat builds.

In June 2016, construction began on the HSIB, a new state-of-the-art instructional building adjacent to the Medical Research Building and the Skaggs Pharmaceutical Sciences Center. Each day since construction began, UA Health Sciences students, faculty and staff are guided safely past the construction site and are greeted by the work crew.

When construction is completed in June 2018, the HSIB will offer simulated health care training for students, faculty and health professionals in medicine, nursing, pharmacy and public health.

To fund the health fair, the SDAC students held a bake sale and received financial support from Banner - University Medical Center and the UA Health Sciences Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

“We believe, that as they work to improve our future education, the least we can do for them is help with their current health,” said Cazandra Zaragoza, MPH, first–year medical student at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson and SDAC member.

About the University of Arizona Health Sciences

The University of Arizona Health Sciences is the statewide leader in biomedical research and health professions training. The UA Health Sciences includes the UA Colleges of Medicine (Phoenix and Tucson), Nursing, Pharmacy and Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, with main campus locations in Tucson and the growing Phoenix Biomedical Campus in downtown Phoenix. From these vantage points, the UA Health Sciences reaches across the state of Arizona and the greater Southwest to provide cutting-edge health education, research, patient care and community outreach services. A major economic engine, the UA Health Sciences employs almost 5,000 people, has nearly 1,000 faculty members and garners more than $126 million in research grants and contracts annually. For more information: uahs.arizona.edu (Follow us: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn)