UCF medical student Briana Gapsis installs siding for the Habitat Orlando project. Gapsis organized the service event as a community outreach project for the College of Medicine’s AMA/FMA student chapter.
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UCF Medical Students Pitch In to Help Habitat Orlando
Students at the University of Central Florida (UCF) College of Medicine, opened in 2009, continue to make a difference giving back to the community that has helped finance their medical school education.
As the summer heat continued to sizzle in sultry Orlando, UCF medical student Briana Gapsis organized a Habitat for Humanity service project as part of the College of Medicine’s American Medical Association/Florida Medical Association (AMA/FMA) student chapter goal to help local underprivileged and homeless residents.
Trading their stethoscopes for hammers, Gapsis and classmates helped Habitat Orlando build Stag Horn Villas, a 58-townhome community in Pine Hills that will provide affordable housing for local families.
“It’s nice to do something physical that you know is going to help someone,” said Gapsis, who installed siding for the project.
Even though the medical students’ construction skills varied widely, their enthusiasm never waned. Jennifer Bazemore, a first-year medical student at UCF, learned to use a caulking gun for the first time from a townhouse rooftop. Keith Connolly, student body president of the College of Medicine, arrived at the construction site sporting a hardhat he had worn while serving on the USS Oklahoma City as a naval officer before arriving at UCF. “This is just a great way to spend a Saturday,” he said.
Habitat Orlando crew leader Jim Brey acknowledged his appreciation of the medical students’ assistance. “We couldn’t do this work without volunteers,” he said, adding the organization is also rehabbing three foreclosed homes in the area and making them available for families.
Samantha Zaino, a Habitat crew leader who served as an EMT for two decades, said she was impressed with the medical students’ construction skills.
“Given their precision with nailing,” she observed, “they’ll be great at suturing in no time.”
UCF medical students are also establishing an infirmary at a local homeless shelter, in line with their AMA/FMA student chapter goals.
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