EVMS students promote childhood literacy
A new collaboration is helping maximize care for pediatric patients at Clinica Esperanza, an EVMS student-run free clinic for Spanish-speaking patients.
Reading Enriches All Children (REACH) recently donated more than 200 books in English and Spanish to the Medical Spanish service-learning initiative.
Research shows that encouraging literacy in the pediatrician’s office improves children’s language scores and behaviors around reading.
“We strive to provide the best care possible to our patients,” says Jonathan Taylor-Fishwick, MD Class of 2021. “And that includes encouraging literacy in our community by providing books to every pediatric patient we see in the Esperanza Clinic.”
REACH Inc.’s mission is to promote literacy for children who are at-risk and homeless throughout Virginia.
“Without the help of community partnerships like REACH,” Mr. Taylor-Fishwick says, “we would not be able to have the great impact on the children we see in the clinic.”