NEOMED medical students connect with community at “Family Kindness Festival”
Several College of Medicine students volunteered for the annual “Family Kindness Festival,” held at Beachwood High School on Sunday, May 4.
More than 2,500 people attended the event, featuring fun and games (and great food!). Activities centered around building positive relationships among families and neighbors from regional communities.
The Festival is presented by Senders Pediatrics.
Dr. Shelly Senders, founder and CEO of the independent pediatric care practice, made the time to connect with the NEOMED students offering encouragement for their pursuit of careers as physicians.
Participants included Julia Johnson, Ana Lopez, Riley Moberly, Brianna Owairu, Manav Patel, Jack Przebienda, Mehraeel Saleh, Abigail Singh, and Jonas St. Fleur. They conducted a “Teddy Bear Clinic,” for the purpose of helping children become better acclimated and more comfortable with medical appointments.
A couple of the students shared reflections on the event’s impact:
Riley Moberly
“As a rising fourth-year student who will be applying for a pediatrics residency within the next year, I truly enjoyed having the opportunity to interact with the kids in our community. Our goal was to spread kindness and help make the kids feel more comfortable when they go to the doctor, and I hope they enjoyed the experience as much as I did!"
Jonas St. Fleur
“Having experienced medical tragedies in my family, one of the primary reasons I am pursuing a career in medicine is to help improve the quality of life for others in the community. The ‘Family Kindness Festival’ was a wonderful experience because it gave me the opportunity to serve the pediatric population of Beachwood and help ease their fears about medical equipment and visiting the doctor’s office. I was encouraged to see how interested the children were in learning to use tools such as the otoscope and stethoscope, which can inspire future interest and development in the field of medicine.”
Northeast Ohio Medical University served as a sponsor of the event.
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NEOMED medical student Mehraeel Saleh was featured in a cleveland.com story about this year’s Family Kindness Festival!