UAMS 12th Street Center to Host ‘March Man-ness’ at Saint Mark Baptist March 23

By Ben Boulden

While this event focuses on men’s health, women also are invited to receive free blood pressure checks, glucose screenings, body mass index assessments, lipid testing and physical examinations from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free HIV testing will be available using a mouth swab and without needles. For the accuracy of the HIV screening and lipid testing, please wait until after the test to eat.

Males also may have blood drawn to check prostate sensitive antigen (PSA) for prostate cancer screenings. A panel of health care professionals, pharmacists and physicians will be on hand along with students from various UAMS programs to answer personal health questions. The event will be in the Family Life Center at Saint Mark Baptist Church, 5722 W. 12th Street.

“March Man-ness is a big part of our mission to meet the community’s health needs,” said Melissa Clark, Pharm.D., M.P.H., director of the UAMS 12th Street Health and Wellness Center.  “Strong public participation every year has shown there is great demand for the screenings and personal health information. This year’s March Man-ness will mark our sixth annual health event, and each spring its popularity is renewed.”

For more information, visit www.Healthon12th.uams.edu or call (501) 614-2492.

Each man who attends March Man-ness will receive a free T-shirt. There also will be free food, exercise demonstrations, child care and activities.

Saint Mark is the main sponsor and has been since this UAMS event began in 2014. Additional sponsors are the Arkansas Minority Health Commission and JM Bozeman Enterprises. ARCare, Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Arkansas Cancer Coalition are providing supplies and services for March Man-ness.

The 12th Street Health & Wellness Center is a free interprofessional clinic run by students under supervision of faculty and other licensed volunteers. It provides students from the UAMS colleges of Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health and the Graduate School an avenue to learn about, from and with each other in an interprofessional center. The center focuses on education, prevention and management of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. It also provides information about healthy living, preventive care, consultations and screenings for residents of the Little Rock Promise Neighborhood and surrounding areas.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,727 students, 870 medical residents and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.