Volunteering
Community Outreach
In the past, Our organization performs direct clinical outreach by working closely in conjunction with the Asian Pacific Liver Center (APLC), an extension of the St. Vincent Medical Center that concentrates its initiative around community programs and screenings. Currently, we are partnering with Hep B Free LA in community outreach projects and screenings.
Dr. Mimi Chang, DNP, the Director of Outreach of these programs, has received numerous awards for her work, including the Sherri Ziegler Community Service Award for leaders in hepatitis education and advocacy. Volunteers from Team HBV at UCLA work closely with Mimi to partake in these screenings, gaining clinical outreach experience by educating patients about viral hepatitis, managing appropriate handling and allocation of blood samples, as well as managing a database of participants for epidemiological research work for the APLC. Some of our members who are certified phlebotomists are able to draw blood for the screenings as well, thus furthering their experience and skills in invasive procedure. So far, Team HBV at UCLA has worked closely in conjunction with the St. Vincent Medical Center to screen over 40,000 people over the past decade, leading to approximately 4,000 patients in the greater Los Angeles area who have received earlier, and thus more effective interventional treatments for Hepatitis B.
Health Fairs
Almost every weekend, members of Team HBV at UCLA are welcome to join in one of the local health fairs in the Greater Los Angeles area to help screen patients and assist nurses as well educated the public on Hepatitis B. We usually visit areas with high Asian and Pacific Islander populations including the 626 region and Orange County. We target these populations specifically because Asian and Pacific Islanders currently have a 1 in 12 chance of being a hepatitis B carrier. We often collaborate with other student clubs at UCLA that organize health fairs to provide educational services and raise awareness of Hepatitis B.
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Moreover, students are given opportunities to directly interact with patients and assist in many roles during health fairs which include giving presentation about the virus, charting, data entry, translating, and directing patients. Students with a phlebotomist license are also welcome to help collect blood sample from patients.
