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People don’t go to the South ��ֱ���� State Fair for health screenings. After all, funnel cakes and cotton candy aren’t recommended prior to blood glucose screenings.

However, 155 people did take advantage of free health screenings offered by pharmacy students from South ��ֱ���� State University on Friday, Aug. 29, the midpoint of the six-day fair in Huron. Several were people who have their numbers checked each year at the fair.

“Everyone had eaten fair food and had coffee in the morning, which is something we anticipate. So, the results can run a little bit high,” explained Raegan Kimbler, who is in her second year of pharmacy school and helped organize Pharmacy at the Fair. Nonetheless, the screenings can provide a good idea of whether patients may need additional follow-up.

The students screened for blood glucose, blood cholesterol and blood pressure. 

The screenings only take about 10 minutes, and the patients leave with a form that they can discuss with their physician. The students also ask patients what their readings are normally in case the fairgoers followed their funnel cake with a deep-fat fried pickle.

In addition to the health screenings, the students offered to calculate the patients’ 10-year risk of having a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular problem. This online tool takes screening data, age, race and a couple other factors to calculate the percentage likelihood . A number of the 155 patients opted for this calculation, including patients with a history of heart attacks, Kimbler said.

Patients needed to be age 18 or older to be screened. Many of those who stopped in the pharmacy tent near the horticulture building were senior citizens, she said.

Besides the screenings, the pharmacy students had set up trifold boards with information on heart health, diabetes and substance use disorder. Plus, for parents and grandparents who had youngsters with them, the pharmacy students offered fruit snacks,  granola bars and bottled water.

Patients aren’t the only ones to benefit from these screenings. “We try to get out and be involved in our community. These are a great way to interact with patients and hear real stories rather than just the examples we see in the classroom. It gives us experience we need for our future careers,” Kimbler said.

She added, “It gives the public a broader view of what pharmacists can do. A lot of people that come into the tent assume we are nursing students. This outreach lets patients see more of what pharmacists can do.”

The screenings were done by students in the second and third year of pharmacy school. A doctorate in pharmacy requires two years of prepharmacy education and four years of pharmacy schooling. About 25 students, all members of the Student Collaboration for the Advancement and Promotion of Pharmacy at SDSU, took part in Pharmacy at the Fair.

First-year students served as greeters, helped with paperwork and worked at the education tables.

This was the ninth year for the collaboration to hold the State Fair screenings. It typically does public screenings four or five times a year. With the school year just underway, the calendar has not been filled. However, the group will be in Pierre for Legislative Days Feb. 10-11.