News @ VCU School of Pharmacy

Pharmacists in the field

Fourteen students and two faculty members from VCU School of Pharmacy have traveled to Wise, Va., to take part in a RAM Health Expedition, which opens July 25.

The Remote Area Medical project, featured July 9 on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” was founded in 1985 to help Americans without medical insurance … of which there are now about 47 million.

According to CBS, the three-day Wise expedition is the biggest RAM event of the year. It’s expected to serve 2,500 people (and, unfortunately, it will most likely have to turn away hundreds more).

Doors open at 6:30 each morning. Prospective patients, who are seen on a first-come, first-served basis, are warned to expect long lines because of the project’s popularity – especially in lower-income areas.

A spokeswoman for the Knoxville, Tenn.-based RAM said July 24 that about 1,000 to 1,100 volunteer health professionals are expected to converge on the Wise County Fairgrounds today. Wise is near Abingdon, about six hours southwest of Richmond.

Evan Sisson of the Department of Pharmacy says this is his second year with the project. “I hope to include even more faculty and students next year.”

For more on RAM, visit www.ramusa.org

To view the “60 Minutes” segment on RAM, which originally aired March 20, please click here

Submitted By:
Cynthia McMullen
7/24/2008