Snake River High School and Idaho State University to host fourth annual community health fair in Blackfoot Jan. 24

Idaho State University health professions students will provide the services, which include screenings for blood glucose levels, oral health, vision, hearing and blood pressure, and will be under the supervision of clinical faculty.

“This will mark the fourth year that ISU and Snake River High School have collaborated to offer a free health fair to the Blackfoot community,” said Jackie Alvarez, who teaches the medical Spanish dual enrollment class whose students will help interpret between the patient and health care provider. 

The class came to SRHS for the 2015-16 school year when ISU’s Physician Assistant Studies Program received a five-year federal grant to address health disparities among Hispanic and Latino patients.  The PA program partnered with the ISU’s Department of Global Studies and Languages, which offers a bachelor’s degree in Spanish for the Health Professions.

This community event is to introduce a younger audience to future health care careers.  

 “We wanted to give students a way to observe and interact with providers in the health professions,” said Helen Cathleen Tarp, director of the Spanish for the Health Professions program at ISU.

“The health fair is a great opportunity for the community and for my students.  The students get real-world interpreting experience, and the community is able to receive free health care services.  We are pleased to act as partners with ISU in providing this opportunity,” said Alvarez.

For more information, contact Valentin Garcia at garcvale@isu.edu or 208-373-1830.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1,035,126 with 0 percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.