Teams collaborated on volunteer efforts with organizations across Portland.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, nearly 20 students from the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) collaborated on a community service day event with organizations throughout Portland.  

Led by Giomary Castillo, a third-year student of the Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND) program, the January 20 event was modeled after a large-scale volunteer initiative where students gathered in teams to give back to their local community.  

“I’ve always been really involved in volunteering,” said Castillo, who moved from the East Coast to pursue her ND degree at NUNM, “and wanted to do something like that while I was here.”  

Each year while Castillo was an undergraduate student at the University of South Florida in Tampa, she participated in a campus-wide community engagement event where hundreds of volunteers would lead service efforts across the city on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  

She shared the idea with NUNM associate professor Dr. Kate Patterson during a class on community engagement and service-learning. Patterson had invited students to consider how they could structure ongoing service day events, and Castillo suggested they replicate the model on a micro level at NUNM.  

“I told them this would be a great student-led event if they felt motivated or passionate,” said Patterson, a naturopathic doctor and 2010 alumna of NUNM. “This was an opportunity for the students to be leaders.”  

Castillo and Patterson began by identifying students who would serve as team captains and recruit other student volunteers. Together, the team would plan their volunteer day with a selected community partner.  

Students later reflected on how the experience contributed to both their individual and community health, as well as that of the environment, and closed the day with a party to celebrate their work.

Several of the students partnered with SOLVE Oregon, an environmental nonprofit that restores neighborhoods and natural areas, working outside to remove invasive species from recreational sites.  

D’Asia Gholar, a second-year naturopathic medicine student, said that community service is a core part of who she is and wanted to participate in the event.

“Engaging in service not only connects us with those around us,” she said, “but also reinforces the idea that we are all part of something larger.”

Gholar was so inspired by the experience that she sent an email to her teammates to express her gratitude.  

“Your energy, enthusiasm, and selfless dedication to our cause made a real impact,” Gholar said in the message. “Thank you for helping to make a difference in the lives of others and for upholding the spirit of Dr. King’s legacy.”  

Patterson said community engagement is a way for students to appreciate the health needs of the community and credits a portion of her own success as a clinician to connections she makes working with service organizations.  

“You often need to build a relationship before somebody feels safe to see you as a health care provider,” said Patterson, who also provides medical station triage and naturopathic care to women and youth at the NUNM community clinic at Rose Haven in Portland. “Community oftentimes has a greater impact on our patients’ health.”  

Patterson added that she hopes students continue to foster external volunteer partnerships to build relationships outside the institution, as NUNM phases out its curricula requirement for doctoral students to complete 24 hours of community engagement and service-learning.  

“So many medical students come into the health profession and NUNM because they want to help,” she said, “so giving them that opportunity in a way that’s student-led and interest driven can be the spark that helps when they’re feeling overwhelmed with academics.”  

Many of the students who volunteered with Oregon Food Bank on Martin Luther King Jr. Day intend to fulfill the remainder of their program’s community service hours with the organization, according to Castillo.  

Later this year, Castillo said she plans to revisit their service day approach and put a call out to fellow students for their feedback and guidance on future events.  

“I really want this to be something that continues on as a legacy that’s left behind for future students,” she said. “I just feel like it should be part of being a doctor—really being involved in the community.” 

Written by Ashley Villarreal, Marketing Content Specialist