University of Texas Rio Grande Valley issued the following announcement.
As UT Health RGV prepares to receive and administer more COVID-19 vaccines in the coming weeks, university medical and physician assistant (PA) students are volunteering to help administer the long-awaited vaccine.
On Monday, an estimated 46 medical and PA students from UTRGV participated in hands-on training on how to administer the COVID-19 vaccines. In addition, the students will be assisting with a call center and the registration of vaccine recipients.
The training of the students will provide some much-needed support and relief to the UT Health RGV care team, who have been in the frontline testing and caring for patients since the start of the pandemic and are now working to administer the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine to other healthcare workers and first responders. UTRGV received 1,950 COVID-19 vaccines on Dec. 15, and immediately began inoculating the university’s frontline workers.
Students are expected to begin volunteering and providing support as early as Wednesday.
“We are calling on our medical students to help with this large-scale effort to vaccinate more individuals, from the most vulnerable patients to essential workers to the general public, in the weeks and months ahead,” said Dr. John H. Krouse, UTRGV executive vice president for Health Affairs and dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine. “Our medical students have a unique opportunity to lead and to serve our community through one of the most challenging public health crises of our time.”
The volunteers who participated in today’s training were also given the opportunity to receive the vaccine to be ready to hit the frontlines and begin administering the vaccine when called upon.
One volunteer who is excited to be training for this moment is Alberto de Jesús López Juarez, a UTRGV first-year medical student.
“This is a historic moment and I would love to take part in it,” said Juarez. “We have to keep in mind that the vaccines came out in less than a year, so for me to be able to help stop COVID-19 makes me feel really good. This is exactly why I’m attending medical school.”
Krouse said this training is a great opportunity for these future physicians and PAs to prepare for future outbreaks that may occur during their careers.
“The involvement of our medical students during this time will provide much needed relief from the stress and physical demands that have been placed on so many of our healthcare heroes that have been working around the clock since the start of this pandemic,” said Krouse.
For more information, visit the UT Health RGV and Commitment to Safety and Success webpages for the latest operational update, protocols and guidelines regarding COVID-19.
Original source can be found here.
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