Health Fair at IAGD

By Adil James, TMO

The audience at the ICD lecture.

Saturday November 9, 2013–Rochester Hills–The auditorium and common room at IAGD were transformed into a mini-hospital Saturday morning and early afternoon, where about 200 people from the community were able to get medical attention for everything from weight and blood pressure to diabetes screening and talking to all manner of specialists from neurology to dentistry.

The event began at 10:30 and lasted until 2:30.  About 60 medical professionals were present–many of them Muslim but many were not Muslim as well.  Most of the patients however were from the IAGD community.

The event was coordinated largely by Dr. Usman Master, in concert with Beaumont Hospital where he works.  Dr. Master is a kidney specialist, or nephrologist.
Many other large health institutions also participated, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, which provided an “Obamacare Table” which seemed to focus largely on developing more business for BCBS, and briefly discussing Obamacare.

The format for the event was that patients would enter the large auditorium hall, which is perhaps 4,000 square feet of open space, then they would immediately be weighed and measured for height and blood pressure.

Then they would go to a small central waiting area, and from there they were taken to a set of tables where the patients discussed their medical condition with general practitioners. 

There were approximately 10 general practitioners meeting with patients at this point.

After this general consultation, the patients were referred to a lab where blood tests were being conducted. They also were referred directly to specialists.

Specialists available at the event included departments for urology, internal medicine, family medicine, dentistry, child psychiatry, hematology / oncology, breast cancer awareness, nutrition, endocrinology / diabetes care, and dermatology.

Patients needing ongoing care were referred to the Huda Clinic, which is based at the Muslim Center on Davison Hwy.

Dr. Master, who helped coordinate the event, is also associated with the Huda Clinic and he and all of the many volunteers and supporters did an extremely professional job of transforming this utilitarian mosque into a “hospital for a day” clinic.

Volunteers were very happy with the turnout of the approximately 200 patients who took advantage of the free health care.

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