December 10, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) medical students will conduct free health screenings for residents of the Jimmie Hale Mission Saturday, Dec. 12 from 8 a.m. until noon.

The screenings, organized by the medical student-volunteer group Equal Access Birmingham, will test blood pressure, glucose and body mass index and offer smoking-cessation counseling. Information on ways the uninsured and underinsured can access health care in the Birmingham area will be provided, along with general information on maintaining good health.

UAB School of Medicine faculty physicians oversee the medical students of Equal Access Birmingham, who are first- and second-year medical students at UAB.

About Equal Access Birmingham

Equal Access Birmingham staffs a free clinic at M-Power Ministries each Wednesday evening for the under-served in the community and conducts local health fairs, screenings, education courses and specialty clinics. Equal Access Birmingham also reaches out to raise community awareness of the local health-care gap by partnering with local businesses, holding public fundraisers and participating in advocacy events.

About the UAB School of Medicine

Located at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, one of the South's premier research universities, the School of Medicine is dedicated to the education of physicians and scientists in all disciplines of medicine and biomedical investigation. This "institution without walls" has grown from one initial building to a vast university and medical complex comprising more than 80 city blocks. A long tradition of interdisciplinary research has ensured that the School of Medicine consistently ranks among the leading recipients of National Institutes of Health funding in the Southeast.