Students join healthcare workers for vaccine distribution

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahoma State University medical students are getting real world experience while they step up to help in a big way. More than 200 of them are assisting healthcare workers with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

The assistance comes at an opportune time. Medical professionals who have been battling the coronavirus for a year are now getting some relief.

“They were kind of just like, ‘hey, we need all the help we can get. If you guys could volunteer, we’d appreciate it,’” said Tiga Wright, a second year medical student at Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. “So of course everyone stepped up and has been great at volunteering and doing whatever they can to help get the public vaccinated, because that’s our number one goal.”

OSU’S first and second year medical students are trained and ready to assist and even administer the vaccine.

“To get some real world patient encounters, I think, are super impactful,” said Shelby Cummins, a first year medical student at Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation. “Just to remember that it’s not just studying and it’s not just tests. It’s not just trying to get to the next class, that these are real people that we’re actually going to have an impact on.”

Wright said she has learned more than she expected to while helping nurses and pharmacists with the vaccine rollout.

“Everyone has been really great and they’ve taught me more than what I could have thought,” said Wright. “Teaching me about charting, teaching me about injections and how to draw vials. It’s been different, but I think it’s been a good experience for us.”

The experience, a bright spot in a time that has seemed so bleak.

“It’s given me hope for the future and it’s gotten me really excited to do my part in the future, hopefully post-pandemic, to just go out into the community and help people as a physician,” said Wright.