The American Medical Student Association will host a free health fair and summit on health-care disparities today in Scott Hall as it kicks off a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of preventive medicine. Both events are free and open to the public.

The community health fair will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., in the Scott Hall Cafeteria. Physicians and medical students will be on hand to provide screenings for blood pressure, blood sugar and body mass index. A free box lunch will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Afterward, students, faculty and government officials will join together to discuss current strides in addressing health disparities and future endeavors to eliminate them completely. The forum, which begins at 5:30 p.m., in Scott Hall's Blue Auditorium, will feature talks by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Dr. John Flack, WSU chair of internal medicine and a principal investigator for the Center for Urban & African-American Health.

The summit will be followed by a reception in Room 1328, Scott Hall.

"The WSU chapter of AMSA is pleased to host this event and promote the health and well-being of the community," says Cheryl Macy, MSII, local coordinator. "As medical students, it is disheartening to witness such disparities and we feel honored to be able to take action and participate in the most fundamental mission of public health-bringing preventative medicine to communities, without regard to income, insurance status, religion, race or culture."