BILLINGS — Medical students at Rocky Vista University Montana College of Osteopathic Medicine volunteered Monday evening with Eagle Mount, gaining hands-on experience while supporting adaptive activities for individuals with disabilities.
Watch how vital volunteering is for Rocky Vista medical students:
The two-hour event, held Monday evening from 5 to 7 p.m., marked the second yearly collaboration between Eagle Mount and the university’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation student group. Nearly 30 students participated in the event, which also involved members of the Pediatric Club and Orthopedic Club, and took months of planning.
“It's good for the medical school and then for all of the future medical students coming after us. It just kind of builds those connections,” said Caleb Moretz, the club's president. “In medical school, it can be a little cutthroat sometimes. Everybody's trying to do their best, and I've seen some people relax a little bit and show their true colors.”
The medical students prepared several activity stations, ranging from fun games such as cornhole, slime-making, and coloring, to more educational demonstrations, such as bone identification and splint-making.
"It is just a beautiful example of community coming together," said Lynn Mollowney Cabrera, executive director of Eagle Mount. "In a setting like this, people really have the opportunity for their strengths, their interests, their abilities to shine, and I think that's at the heart of it."
The organization serves more than 600 individuals in the community and plans adaptive field trips to provide them with meaningful and fulfilling life experiences. For participants like 21-year-old Rela DeMet, who has attended Eagle Mount programs for several years, she enjoyed getting to learn about bones and how to make slime from the medical students.
“Hanging out with my friends," said DeMet when asked what her favorite part of Eagle Mount is.
"Some of our participants who are here tonight had absolutely no problem knowing which bones went with which and actually really scratched that sort of itch for them with their very high IQs," said Cabrera.
For the medical students, the opportunity was a break from their high-stress exams and a reminder of why they chose the profession.
"We all had a big exam this morning, so we were in a little bit lower spirit," said Kayla Conrad, a first-year student. "I know we're all looking forward to this because it gives us something to get us out of our normal study routine and reminds us of why we're in med school and why we're becoming physicians."
Both Conrad and classmate Kate Traylor, who both volunteer each week with Eagle Mount, said the impact of the evening went beyond academics. The experience will help them in their future careers and better see those with disabilities as not just cases, but as people.
"It's kind of one of our first real doctor-patient lessons here was how to interact on a one-on-one level and how to communicate with different kinds of people in different scenarios," said Traylor. "I think the interpersonal connection is what makes you a good physician. It's something that requires a lot of practice that a lot of people don't even think about."
"I personally am very interested in pediatric physical medicine rehabilitation, so this is kind of the patient population that we would be working with," added Conrad.
For Moretz, who is a second-year student interested in sports medicine, the experience was a valuable reminder of the diversity in patient needs.
"Disabilities take a different approach to treatment, and a lot of people don't understand them unless you've truly interacted with them," said Moretz. "Some of them are incredibly intelligent, and it kind of blows my mind, and so I should be doing more. That's kind of the feeling I get.”
Beyond skill-building, the event also fostered a sense of belonging, inclusion, and joy for all involved.
“When they drive by now Rocky Vista University, way out on the West End, they'll be like, 'Oh, I was there. You know, I have friends there," said Cabrera. "It's just that continued escalation of the sense of community and a place, just a place for belonging.”
She also added that national conversations around disabilities and neurodivergence, especially autism, underscore the importance of inclusive experiences like this one.
"The better we understand, the better we can meet people where they are and not consider them as something, as I said before, not consider them as something that needs to be fixed," said Cabrera.
Related: 'We're all humans': Billings disability group responds to Trump’s autism remarks
For many students, it was an opportunity to give back and have a deeper appreciation of the human side of medicine.
“I think we get stuck in textbooks a lot. You're reading something, and until you put it to a face and realize, 'This is truly something that it goes on in the world,' it really opens up your eyes,” said Moretz.
