MERIDIAN — It’s that time of year again: flu shot time. Students at Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine are helping keep the community healthy.
“it’s a great way for second years to get some early clinical exposure and get some hands-on practice with actual procedure," said second-year medical student Nick Scapini.
Second-year students involved in the internal medicine club are hosting a flu shot clinic for students and staff at ICOM. They have enough supplies to give out 200 shots, and they’re getting great experience.
"We work with patients a lot, we have standardized patients, but this is a really cool way to actually work with people who aren’t standardized, and they’re from the community and faculty and the staff we haven’t worked with before," said second-year medical student Faith Spratt.
They’re not just giving the shots; they’re doing it all from start to finish.
"We’re drawing up shots ourselves, kind of delivering them to each station and then we’re all taking turns administering them," said Scapini.
ICOM staff guides them through the process to make sure they’re following proper protocols and procedures.
"The amount they need, making sure the needle is seated correctly, and then exchanging the needle for the injection needle," said Dr. Rodney bates.
Getting a shot might not be what a patient would consider fun, but these future doctors have a different opinion.
“I think its a ton of fun its a great experience, I was really excited about this, its one of the first times we’ve had an opportunity to do this, obviously as the inaugural class, we’re kind of the first to do everything, so yeah its really exciting," said Scapini.
