The VIM dental clinic's staff recently visited the Humpty Dumpty Kollege in Pittston to educate the children on proper oral hygiene. Darcie Schaffer, Austin Wood and Michelle Witek visited the daycare with Katie the Kangaroo to promote the Healthy Smile program, funded partially by the United Way of Wyoming Valley. They taught the toddlers the importance of brushing their teeth, visiting the dentist and eating healthy. All the children received a program bag filled with a variety of items for good oral health. While at the daycare, Michelle had an unexpected reunion with Ms. Cookie, the co-owner of Humpty Dumpty. As it turns out, Michelle was a former graduate of the daycare, and Ms. Cookie remembered her from when she was an infant!

Derek Donaldson is in his P2 year at Wilkes University. After pharmacy school, he plans to attend medical school and hopes to practice anesthesiology in the Harrisburg area. Derek actually volunteered in 2019 so understands the mission of VIM and believes the organization provides wonderful care to an underserved population.

Sherry Daley is from Kingston, PA and currently living in Killingworth, CT. She is a 3rd year Nurse Practitioner graduate at Misericordia University. She has been an emergency room nurse for 7 years and wants to continue in the ER or family medicine. Her goal is to serve her hometown community.

Michael Haggerty is from Hauppague, NY and is in his 5th year clinical phase in the Physician Assistant program at Kings College. He would like to practice pediatrics, surgery or family medicine. His ultimate goal would be to start a practice in New York City. He thinks VIM is an amazing community program and is privileged to learn how to help underserved populations.

Steven Kemmerer is from Northampton, PA and is in his 6th year at Wilkes University in the Pharmacy program. He wants to practice emergency medicine, critical care or oncology. He chose VIM for his rotation due the uniqueness of the nonprofit healthcare facility. He has found that the patients are incredibly thankful for the care they receive at the clinic.

It is always exciting when family members of staff visit VIM to lend a helping hand. VIM's Nursing Director, Chris Gaughan's granddaughter, Lilah recently volunteered to help with filling Healthy Smile program bags. Lilah is a 7th grader at Crestwood and enjoys volleyball and hanging with friends and family.

Uncle Bob Amory, visits VIM often to help with whatever duties are asked of him. Bob is the Uncle of Jay Amory and Darcie Schaffer, Manager of the Dental Clinic. He recently visited a couple times to also help stuff the program bags with toothbrushes, toothpaste, coloring books, crayons and educational material.

It took many hours and much help to fill 940 bags to provide to the Luzerne County Head Start preschool children to celebrate February’s National Children’s Dental Health Month. The Third District Dental Society of the Pennsylvania Dental Association (PDA) is very supportive of the the free dental clinic at VIM and it's programs.

Pictured to the left are Richard Grossman, DDS, Irina Melnik, DMD, Darcie Schaffer, Austin Wood and Deb Siglin, RN.

Francesco is a 41 year old male who sought dental care for a dark discolored front tooth. The patient was seen by a Primary Care Doctor at the clinic and referred for dental services.  He was also treated for neck pain and provided counseling with the Clinical Pharmacist for smoking cessation. 

He is working to provide financial support for a family of six (6). He was graciously appreciative of the new smile he received after extensive dental care from Dr. Melnik, volunteer dentist.  

A 51 year old Hispanic female came to the clinic with the feeling of dizziness (moving sensation) both when bending over mopping at work and doing certain movements at home. Additionally, she experienced headaches described as a squeezing or cramping accompanied with nausea. When these episodes would occur, she felt tired and weak to the point of needing to lie down which interfered with her daily life.

A physical exam was unremarkable except for feeling off balance while standing with her eyes closed. Her bloodwork and the Cat scan of her head were normal but her symptoms persisted, so a consult with our volunteer neurologist Dr. Maya Leichtenstein was arranged at the clinic.  The patient was diagnosed with vestibular migraines and started on topiramate.  After just a week of taking the medication, her symptoms resolved. She can now continue to work as a housekeeper and provide for her family.

Dr. Kimmy Nguyen and Volunteers in Medicine will once again be partnering with the Wilkes University Nesbitt School of Pharmacy chapter of the national Script Your Future competition. Script Your Future is a nationally-recognized contest for pharmacy schools to raise awareness for the importance of medication adherence in order to help those in our community achieve better health and wellness on their medications. In particular, Script Your Future focuses on helping people with diabetes, respiratory disease, and heart disease.

The Wilkes University chapter of Script Your Future has had a very successful track record in previous years with winning numerous awards. Some of the major projects that Wilkes Pharmacy Community are working on is another video focused on medication adherence, plus information sheets on the various antiviral medications used to fight COVID-19. Dr. Nguyen plans to obtain the antiviral information sheets to pass along to our patients here at VIM. Furthermore, the Wilkes chapter of Script Your Future will be providing pillboxes for the VIM in order to promote medication adherence amongst our very own patient base.