Advancing Rural Community Health

ARCH Health Screenings

The ARCH (Advancing Rural Community Health) Program was established in 2007 by FMU to provide students with service learning opportunities in community health fields. One such opportunity is the ARCH Health Screening Program. The screening team is led by FMU's director of community health, Paul DeMarco, MD. It is composed of five to seven students enrolled in majors leading to careers in the health professions such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, mental health, and social work. The team travels weekly to sites in Dillon, Marion, Marlboro, and Williamsburg counties as an outreach to some of the Pee Dee's most underserved rural communities.

The screenings consist of height, weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol measurement. Diabetics are offered Hemoglobin AIC testing. At some screenings measurement of kidney function ("kidney count") is offered.

In the first two years of the program (from January 2008 through December 2009) more than 2000 patients were screened in more than 80 screenings.

The screenings are free and open to the public and take place in churches, schools, community centers and other appropriate locations.

For information regarding the ARCH Health Screening Program, please contact Paul DeMarco, MD, 843-661-1845 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Kassab Service Fellowship Program

Click here for the ARCH Kassab Fellowship Application Information

The Advancing Rural Community Health (ARCH) Program coordinates the Kassab Service Fellowships at FMU.  These paid fellowships provide opportunities for students to shadow rural community health providers.  The program is open to junior and senior students with GPAs of at least 3.0 who are interested in health careers.  The purpose of the program is to expose students to the rewards and challenges of rural health care.

Students are matched with a community health provider for a semester and spend 6 hours a week on-site shadowing that provider.  The majority of the sites are in the rural Pee Dee counties of Dillon, Marion, Marlboro, and Williamsburg.  Shadowing sites include:

• Doctor’s Offices including Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, OB/GYN and General Surgery
• Dentist’s Offices
• Community Health Centers
• Free Medical Clinics
• Emergency Departments
• Mental Health Centers
• Substance Abuse Centers
• Disabilities and Special Needs Offices
• Senior Citizens’ Centers
• Hospices
• Pharmacies
• Pee Dee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Assault
• Physical and Occupational Therapy Departments
• ARCH Health Screenings 

All students receive a $1000 stipend and a travel allowance to cover gas.  Many students are eligible to receive credit for their fellowships.  The fellowship hours may also count toward fulfilling health professional schools’ contact hour requirements.  The program accepts approximately 25-30 students a semester.  For information regarding the ARCH Health Screening Program, please contact Paul DeMarco, MD, 843-661-1845 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .