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November 13, 2011
VCOM Medical Reserve Corp Welcomes 170 Charter Members
The American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians (ACOEP) student chapter on the VCOM-Virginia Campus partnered with the Virginia Medical Reserve Corps to establish the VCOM Medical Corps. Students met to learn about how they can train to serve the New River Valley in times of emergency and disaster.
According to James Powers, D.O., faculty advisor for VCOM’s student chapter of the ACOEP and VCOM’s Associate Dean for Clinical Education, “We are excited by the tremendous interest in the VCOM Medical Corps and our students look forward to working with VMRC and serving the New River Valley.” The Medical Reserve Corps, which was formed following September 11th, is a force of dedicated volunteers who stand ready to support the community in the event of a public health emergency. Each of the 31 local MRC units is comprised of teams of medical and public health professionals who, along with interested community members, volunteer their skills, expertise and time to support ongoing public health initiatives and assist during emergencies throughout Virginia.
VCOM's emergency medicine organization hosted over 170 student physicians at this introductory meeting which marked the “chartering” of the VCOM Medical Corps. According to Powers, “These students will be provided with unique training opportunities in principles of the incident command system, Basic Disaster Life Support, decontamination training, nuclear disaster training and much more. Membership will also provide students a great understanding of the role of MRCs in disaster response that they will take with them into their practice and communities in the future”.