ASU physics professor opens free clinic

By MATT GRAVATT

The Appalachian

At first glance, it is hard to draw similarities between the town of Boone and the village of Bulumagi in rural Uganda.

However, the connection between these two distinct locales is clear for one member of the Appalachian State University community.

In July 2006, Dr. Marian J. Peters of the department of physics traveled to Bulumagi to work in a health clinic. While there, she worked to administer vaccinations for polio and measles to local children, as well as vitamin A to foster bone growth and vision.

In 2001, Peters did similar work in medical clinics in India, where she grew up.

“I encourage my students to see other countries, and preferably in some capacity other than tourists,” Peters said. “We need to become educated about other cultures in order to be responsible members of a global community.”

In additional to her volunteer work overseas, Peters is helping those in Boone.

In 2003, Peters took a two-year unpaid leave of absence from Appalachian to pursue a master’s degree in medical science at Wake Forest University.

Upon her graduation last year, Peters became a licensed physician assistant, allowing her to provide primary care, order and interpret tests, assist in surgery and write prescriptions, according to the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

Peters returned to Appalachian State to continue her teaching career in the fall of 2005 and to pursue a lifelong passion for volunteerism.

With a physician assistant certification, Peters was able to volunteer to provide medical care for residents of the Hospitality House, a homeless shelter serving the Boone area.

Peters also involved herself with the free pharmacy at the Hunger and Health Coalition, a relief agency serving Watauga, Avery and Ashe counties.

These experiences led Peters to recognize the “chronic illnesses that affect the people that live in poverty here,” she said.

“Almost one in every four people [do] not [have] health insurance” she said, “These are people who don’t see the doctor when they are sick because they can’t afford to.”

Realizing there was a need for members of the community who were unable to afford primary care physicians or diagnostic tests, Peters worked with the Health and Hunger Coalition to open the Community Care Clinic in April 2006.

The Community Care Clinic is devoted to serving “low-income, uninsured people” who have nowhere else to go, Peters said. The clinic aims at those who “usually don’t seek medical care until they’re truly in an emergency situation,” she said.

“Many people have never had anyone sit down and talk with them about how they are feeling,” Peters said. “It’s amazing what that can do.”

Currently, the clinic offers medical consultations and is able to provide a variety of in-house services, including urinalysis, skin scrapes and pulse oximetry, a device that measures oxygen content in the blood.

Reprint courtesy of The Appalachian (www.theapp.appstate.edu).