Medical Students Volunteer at Pride Festival

A group of volunteers stands side by side behind a table filled with materials for Pride attendees
Volunteers from HOYA Clinic and HMPA (Hoya Medical Pride Alliance) represented the School of Medicine at this year's Pride Festival. From left to right: Anya Gupta (HMPA co-president), Jacqueline Sandling, Nidhi Mereddy, Jie Jung Shih (HMPA co-president), Miriam Hoteit, Rebecca Pierce, Eileen Moore, MD, Megan Clyne and Karan Buddala. (All images courtesy of Jie Jung Shih)

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(June 21, 2024) — Medical students from HOYA Clinic and Hoya Medical Pride Alliance (HMPA) teamed up to offer health screenings at the June 9 Capital Pride Festival in Washington.

The student volunteers conducted free blood pressure screenings, blood glucose screenings, and rapid HIV tests for community members attending the festival.

“In total, we screened about 150 people throughout the day,” said Karan Buddala (M’27), a HOYA Clinic coordinator. “We received a lot of gratitude for being at the event and for providing accessible and free services. For our students, it was also an amazing opportunity to get involved with our community and promote health in a meaningful way.”

Buddala said a highlight of the day was meeting Georgetown graduates. These included an alumnus who commented that LGBTQ+ affinity groups hadn’t existed on campus when he was in school in the 1980s.

“He told me that seeing that we were from Georgetown and taking a Hoya pride sticker with ‘lgbtq.georgetown.edu’ emblazoned on it truly made his day,” Buddala recalled. “It was a powerful reminder that the progress we have made would not have been possible without the people (both recognized and unrecognized) who came before us.”

Four students stand side by side wearing scrubs and yellow plastic novelty glasses
From left to right: Megan Clyne, Miriam Hoteit, Jacqueline Sandling, Jie Jung Shih
A large crowd of people mill around at Pride Fest
This year’s Capital Pride Festival was June 9.