USC primary care students bring diabetes awareness and education to the community

For eight years, the Keck School of Medicine of USC Primary Care Program has organized “Diabetes Day” at the Wellness Center at Los Angeles General Medical Center, a community health fair that on Thursday, March 12, 2026, brought together local patients, Primary Care Program medical students and family medicine faculty, community members and Wellness Center staff for an educational day focused on diabetes, healthy cooking and wellness.

With up to 100 participants each year, patients gather in the Wellness Center auditorium, where students from the Primary Care Program lead sessions on diabetes prevention, healthy eating practices, and exercises to improve fitness, balance, flexibility and mobility for those living with chronic illness.

Run as a rotating health fair, patients move through stations staffed by medical students who take blood pressures, perform diabetic foot checks and basic oral hygiene exams, and conduct visual acuity checks. Students also educate patients on healthy food portions, the risks of sugary beverages, recommended immunizations and the laboratory tests essential to managing diabetes, including the hemoglobin A1C, a key measure of long-term blood sugar control. Family medicine faculty from the Primary Care Program are present throughout the day to supervise students and answer patient questions.

Diabetes Day is a cornerstone of the Primary Care Program’s “learn through service” philosophy, giving students the opportunity to provide much-needed health education to patients in the  Los Angeles safety-net hospital community.  The event often surfaces patients whose chronic diseases are not well managed, and this year was no exception.

“We had two patients with hypertensive urgency who had no primary care providers and/or had gotten lost in the local, complex health care system and were escorted to the Los Angeles General Medical Center urgent care for immediate health care services and connection,” said Jo Marie Reilly, MD, MPH, professor of clinical family medicine and director of the Keck School of Medicine of USC Primary Care Program. “Diabetes Day was a great learning experience for students to see the value and importance of excellent primary care for chronic disease management and health emergency prevention.”