Medical student Martha DeMeules and pharmacy student Jasmine Zaidi have been working on a project aimed at mitigating food insecurity in Mower County. After completing fieldwork, the team identified the Austin High School Packer Pantry as an area for improvement. They’ve developed goals to enhance the pantry’s system, such as creating online ordering forms, drafting a focus group questionnaire, and building local partnerships. Their next steps include implementing these initiatives and presenting their findings to local stakeholders.
This project has highlighted the passion within Mower County to serve its community and emphasized the importance of involving all stakeholders, especially those directly impacted. The team shared that, "Participating in this project has instilled the commitment both of us have to working with diverse, interprofessional teams in our career."
Martha enjoyed collaborating with professionals from various fields, while Jasmine appreciated visiting Mower County and seeing the direct impact of their work. This project also served as a reminder that working on a community-led project is a great outlet from everyday work. While both enjoy health care, it's been a rewarding challenge to apply their expertise in a different field and learn from people with diverse perspectives to solve problems together.
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