Polina Serbina
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The DMS Club club offers diagnostic medical sonography majors a chance to make connections within their study field and get help on any course or graduation requirements for the program. The club is one of the newest ones appeared at the recent Involvement Fair Sept. 4.
Natalie St. James, junior DMS student, is the club president and she’s been working with the club advisor, Karen Klimas, clinical coordinator and assistant professor in the DMS program, get the club started. “I want us to kind of let the campus know we are a major. People don’t really know that we’re here [or] what we do,” said James.
Most of the majors have designated clubs for students, and DMS was not going to fall behind on that, members say.
The recent Paper Chain Interprofessional Education (IPE) event held Sept. 12 was enabled underclassmen as well as upperclassmen DMS majors and other healthcare majors to learn about each other’s fields of study and understand how they will interlink in a real-life setting. The event also emphasized collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills, all of which are vital aspects of a sonographer. Such IPE events bring awareness to diagnostic sonography and educate other majors how it operates or relates to other healthcare fields, organizers said.
The volunteer and service opportunities are also noteworthy chances for students to give back to the community and collect mandatory service hours. The Patriot’s Cove service event, to be held in November, will help club members to “learn how to help veterans and people with PTSD,” said James. Another event is planned for November, if interest allows.
“The officers were gonna try and hold a workshop for people to come in and we can help you with a portfolio and have snacks for people, for people to come in with questions” says James. The DMS portfolio is an essential collection of documents, activities, experiences, and services a DMS student must complete and reflect on throughout the four years of their undergraduate education. The DMS club is determined to provide the students with the appropriate events and projects to satisfy portfolio requirements, she said.
The DMS club is blooming with ideas to sustain itself while catering to the members’ needs. The club plans to organize several fundraisers, such as an apparel sale. Students will be able to purchase diagnostic medical sonography merchandise in the form of sweatpants, crewnecks, shirts, and more. Another event will remember and honor Maddie Gross, a DMS major who passed away due to ovarian cancer.
James said her own personal experience with imaging propels and inspires her. “The techs I had were just not good and I would leave [the examinations] in tears,” she said “I want to make sure people have a good experience, that they know that if they have pain somewhere they can tell me and I would do my best to avoid it, and that they are seen as a person and a patient first and not a number,” said James.
She said the club allows students to meet and get to know their peers, their stories, their inspirations, and their goals. Reflecting on the reasons students chose the major a vital ritual that ensures sonography is the right path for them and that their passion for that career is continuing to blossom. Adequate patient care is one of the most crucial responsibilities of a sonographer.
Officers are attempting to connect with their members and provide sonography students with the guidance and knowledge necessary to maintain the students’ confidence and comfort in the DMS family and their degree progress. The club will hold a meet-and-greet lunch in October. “All the levels of the program coming in and students are welcome to come in any level–and just have lunch together and just talk,” said James.
The DMS club has a set of standards and rules for their members to follow to maintain their membership as well as help them keep up with the progress of their major and meet any other mandatory requirements for the program. The students are required to do at least one service project per semester, at least two events pertaining to their major or field introduced by the DMS club and attend one workshop per semester.
All that diligent commitment to the club must be rewarded, of course. The club’s goal is to allow the DMS students to graduate with cords and stoles if they were a member of the DMS club for at least two years and have met the other requirements of the membership. Upon walking the stage, they will be able to display their hard work, commitment, and extracurriculars.
The club plans to meet twice per month in the sonography lab on the ground floor of Walsh Hall.