Jenna Crowe
Staff Writer
Community members and ISU students are invited to attend the ISU Health Fair in the Ballroom and Wood River Room of the Pond Student Union Building March 16 and 17 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Students will be able to receive free services such as hearing, dental and foot screenings while being introduced to community vendors that provide a wide range of health and nutrition services.
“It’s a nice opportunity for students to see what our clinics have to offer,” said Stephen Wright, the grants and sponsor project specialist for the ISU Office of Research. “Money is tight, and there’s a lot of services that students should know about.”
Bengal Lab will be offering a discounted blood draw service that can test many things including a complete blood count, coronary risk profile and thyroid function until March 31.
Kathleen Spiegel, biology professor and Bengal Lab manager, explains that the lab is not charging for the blood draw itself, just for the tests which are ordered by the participant. Many of the offered tests can only be legally performed on Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, CLIA, equipment or in a CLIA-certified lab.
“By having the Bengal Lab do the work, our students gain a valuable real experience,” Spiegel said. “Because of the quality, the participants can take the results to their physicians.”
A health fair blood draw sheet can be found at www.isu.edu/healthfair.
People are encouraged to participate because the fair gives students in different health profession studies a chance to gain practical experience.
This year, there is an estimated 30 ISU-sponsored booths and 60 community-sponsored booths, one of which is the Idaho Relay, hailing from Boise, Idaho.
Idaho Relay, also known as Hamilton Relay, participates in the fair every year, exposing the community to a 24-hour communication service for people that are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or have communication difficulties.
Idaho Relay services are available for teletypewriter, voice communication, speech-to-speech and Spanish-to-Spanish. For more information on how to use the Idaho Relay service, attend the ISU Health Fair or visit www.hamiltonrelay.com.
“We’ve had people from Idaho Falls and Salt Lake City in the past,” Wright said, “but they were double-booked so they can’t show up this year.”
Returning community booths include the Alta Animal Hospital, chiropractic services and credit unions.
The Pocatello Free Clinic will attend, as will some insurance agencies.
In the past, doTerra, Nuclear Care Partners, various dentists and senior living facilities have attended, but there is no guarantee they will make an appearance.
Services throughout the Division of Health Sciences will be in attendance, including the College of Pharmacy, Bengal Lab and the ISU School of Nursing.
“It’s really an eye-opening experience,” Wright said. “You know, come get your foot checked out or come get a free oral screening.”
