Dr. Greenberg, “…our students are our best resource.”
May 1, 2007:
Andy Brack introduced Dr. Ray Greenberg as a highly qualified and accomplished professional “who doesn’t know which Carolina blue to cheer for.” With a medical degree from Duke University it should be obvious, but add a BS and PhD from UNC Chapel Hill and a MS from Harvard and every season is a new challenge.
Dr. Greenberg immediately complimented Rotary as a Partner…he believes in what we do and constantly sees the positive results of our efforts. His overview comments reflected his excitement for MUSC’s new $300 million, 650,000 square foot hospital opening in October 2007 and the implementation of a new statewide fiber optic network that will connect our research institutions. He quickly added, “I’m not go to say anything that you’ll walk away saying: Wow, I heard something today I’ll remember for a long time.” To the contrary, Dr. Greenberg did say something we all will remember: “…our students are our best resource.” With that, he introduced Justin Elett as one of “6 or 7 students a year” bright and dedicated enough to enter the MD/PhD program. In January 2005, as a second year medical and graduate student Justin started something extraordinary in Mt. Pleasant: a clinic for uninsured patients called CARES. CARES stands for “community aid, relief, education, and support.” On a shoestring $10,000 dollar annual budget, Justin and 5-7 of his fellow student volunteers at MUSC run a clinic on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30-8:30 PM free of charge. The clinic opened in August 2005 and has treated over 800 individual patients with over 1100 encounters. The clinic is aided by MUSC providing the lab services for “cost” and donated pharmaceuticals. Mr. Ellet’s fellow student, Scotty Buff, is equally impressive. As a Wofford College undergraduate who, “almost has her PhD in microbiology and immunology,” she started an outreach program to schools in 2004. Her “Junior Doctors of Health” program empowers children to learn to recognize the importance of their health as well as others. She enthusiastically talked about how the 6th Graders at Fraser Elementary love “pulling the organs out of a plastic body” as a part of learning what healthy eating and exercise can do to promote good health. She explained the program’s three-prong approach:
Interdisciplinary: Teach them about related career fields such as “male nurses” of which they had no knowledge.
Target the Parents: The Frasier “Walk to School Day” resulted in over 300 participants; 100 more than expected; parent participation was overwhelming. (Dr. Greenberg provided the event T-Shirts, including the extra 100). Additionally, the program’s “Literacy Drive” raised over $400 for books.
Take the Program to High Schools: Plans are being made for health fairs that increase the student’s health knowledge and self-esteem.
NOTE: A lively Q&A session followed and was enjoyed by all.
Reported by Bill Crowe, Keyway Committee