ACT (Adopt-A-Centre) Cycle 2 Semester 2
Deepening Connections and Skills through Community Care
While the second half of the academic year was utterly chaotic and overwhelming for many, it did little to deter CHAMP from continuing its volunteer efforts. Following the positive experiences from the previous semester, student volunteers for ACT returned to Goodlife! Studio @ Bukit Purmei with a deeper commitment and desire to serve seniors in the community with the knowledge they have gained in school, particularly through medication review and patient education. It was also a good opportunity for the students to once again practise their classroom learning in real-world settings.
3 EXCO members and 18 participants came together for the first session on 21 March, where they soon realised that even though medication reconciliation was the central focus of the session, effective engagement with the seniors was equally if not more important. Many seniors were eager to share their personal experiences, concerns, and frustrations from their daily lives with the student volunteers, who had to delicately balance empathy with professionalism; they listened attentively and responded thoughtfully, while making sure to gently steer the conversation back on track when necessary, demonstrating strong communication skills vital in healthcare.
Smiles, service, and a shared purpose – student volunteers posing with their faculty advisor
The second session on 28 March saw an even bigger turnout, with 3 EXCO members and 28 participants in attendance. Despite running for a longer duration from 9am to 1.30pm and allocating an extra 30-minute buffer, consultations still overran due to the complexity of cases encountered. Nevertheless, it made for a good learning opportunity for the student volunteers, who gained greater insights into pharmacotherapy, clinical decision-making and patient management – all of which might have been more difficult to fully grasp within the classroom environment. Beyond that, student volunteers also benefited from the extended interactions with their assigned volunteer pharmacists, who were more than delighted to share their pearls of wisdom.
Pharmacist and future pharmacists united in service and one photo
Ultimately, ACT re-emphasised the importance of delivering holistic, patient-centred care within the community, allowing student volunteers to appreciate that meaningful impact in healthcare stems not from perfect answers, but from patience, attentiveness, empathy, and a genuine heart to serve.
ACTing with heart – a CHAMPion team
Written by: Kaily