EAST BRUNSWICK — Volunteer Day is an essential stop on the student’s path to becoming a doctor. After receiving their white coats, first-year Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School students teamed up with East Brunswick Public Library for Volunteer Day on July 20.
These future doctors worked alongside the consumer health librarians to share information about summer wellness issues, covering topics including water safety, the importance of sunscreen, identifying poison ivy, and even healthy recipes.
“Community partners like the East Brunswick Public Library allow our students to serve the community through health literacy and education,” said Susan Giordano, program director of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s Homeless and Indigent Population Health Outreach Project-Community Health Initiative. “Events like Volunteer Day are instilling the importance of humanism in medicine into our current medical students as they become the next generation of physicians.”
Information stations were set up throughout the library and the neighboring East Brunswick Senior Center. Medical students had the opportunity to learn how to speak about health matters and concerns with people of all ages, ranging from new parents to the elderly.
The medical school also provided prizes, including sunscreen and water bottles.
“I appreciate that Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School recognizes the important role that public libraries play in creating healthy communities through wellness literacy,” said Karen Parry, East Brunswick Public Library’s manager of Information Services. “We are honored that they chose our neighboring senior center and us to enlighten our community about ways to stay healthy in the summertime.”
- This information was provided by the East Brunswick Public Library.