By Josh Troy
Clarksdale Advocate
On Wednesday afternoon, Urgent & Primary Care of Clarksdale representatives spoke about medical issues to a health and sciences class at the Carl Keen Career Technical Education Center. The CTE Center is part of the Clarksdale Municipal School District. Dr. Mary Williams, a nurse practitioner and Urgent & Primary Care of Clarksdale owner, registered nurse Shirley McCray-Allen, licensed practical nurse Cassonya Lampkin and community health worker Lisa Dixon all spoke.
The students were in Calandra Owten’s health and sciences class. Williams talked about some of the benefits of being a nurse. “Once I got into nursing, I learned that it was truly my calling,” she said. “I love taking care of people. I love talking and interacting with people and I think there’s no greater gift than to take care of people when they’re down.”
Williams said most of the patients are very grateful after they are well. Topics ranged from teaching the students about the blood pressure cuff, which takes a person’s blood pressure, to the heart rate. Williams said Urgent & Primary Care of Clarksdale takes care of patients for their entire lifespan.
Urgent & Primary Care of Clarksdale representatives asked students questions about medical issues. The answers to some of the questions were that the average human pregnancy is 40 weeks, a nephrologist is a medical doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating kidney conditions, the femur is the largest bone in the body, there are 22 bones in a human skull, the Food and Drug Administration approved the medicine Paxlovid to treat COVID in Dec. 2021, the Group O blood type can donate red blood cells to anyone, and Hippocrates is the Father of Medicine.
