Students at Timpanogos Elementary School are invited to attend a free health screening Wednesday.

The Kaufusi’s Keikis event, named after Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi, is the first of its kind in the area. The free opt-in health screenings will be performed by student physicians at the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine and will be overseen by licensed faculty physicians.

“As medical students dedicated to community service, we are thrilled about the chance to make a lasting impact on the health outcomes of the communities we aspire to serve,” said Laura Minor, a second-year student organizing student-doctor volunteer. “This opportunity not only allows us to practice our clinical skills, but also enables us to proactively identify and address health issues early on for the children in our community.”

The event will be held from 4-7 p.m. at the elementary school gymnasium, 449 N. 500 West, in Provo.

The screenings will include different stations to assess vital signs, heart and lungs, abdominal, neurology, muscular-skeletal, head, ears, eyes, nose and throat, and basic dental and vision exams.

Seven out of Provo’s 13 elementary schools, including Timpanogos, are Title I schools, which means students are typically economically disadvantaged. Timpanogos has approximately 590 students, so the health screenings will give all parents a free, easily accessible opportunity to have their child’s health evaluated.

“We are grateful to Noorda Collage and the Kaufusi’s Keikis program for bringing this program to our students at Timpanogos Elementary School,” said Marsha Baird, a social worker at the school. “These services are vital to the overall health and well-being of our students, many of which may not always have these resources readily available to them.”

Baird said this opportunity could make a huge difference for many of the students and their families.

“Most of my family medicine practice and career was spent helping lower-income families and Pacific Islanders,” said Dr. Namealoha Hekekia, the college’s interim assistant dean for clinical education and primary manager of the clinical aspects of Kaufusi’s Keikis.

Leaving her practice in Hawaii was a difficult move, Hekekia said, and she misses serving the Pacific Islander people living on the islands.

“But being able to provide screening physicals to lower-income children through Kaufusi’s Keikis helps me fulfill my ‘why’ for going into medicine, and I think initiatives like these are crucial for helping our students discover the ‘why medicine’ too,” she said.

As previously reported by the Daily Herald, the goal of the Kaufusi’s Keikis program is to hold four health screenings a year throughout the Provo School District.

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