The Remote Area Medical Clinic returns to Cookeville High School on March 21 and 22 to provide medical, dental, and vision care to individuals who might not otherwise have access to healthcare.
Tennessee Technological University’s Remote Area Medical Clinic returns to Cookeville High School on March 21 and 22, 2026. The Remote Area Medical Clinic, which is in its 10th year with Tennessee Tech, provides free healthcare to individuals who may not otherwise have access to it, including medical, dental, and vision care services. The clinic is staffed by the university’s healthcare students and visiting healthcare professionals who donate their services to the clinic.
According to an article on Tennessee Technological University’s website, Janet Coonce, who is a chemistry instructor and the adviser to the Tech RAM host group, was quoted as saying of the benefit for students of hosting the clinic, “This is experiential learning. The RAM clinic is teaching these students life skills that go far beyond what they would get only in classrooms.”
In order to bring the RAM Clinic to fruition, Tennessee Tech students partner with the Remote Area Medical nonprofit, which operates nationwide, the Cookeville Regional Medical Center Foundation, and healthcare professionals who donate their time and skills to the cause. The students are in charge of the hosting of the event and the coordination of all of the volunteers, fundraising, and accommodations for the visiting healthcare providers, as well as the advertising of the event.
Caleb Stovall, a biology and health sciences student, is serving as this year’s event co-lead. He has spent five years volunteering for the event. This is his first time serving in a leadership role for the clinic. He said of the experience, “I’ve been a volunteer at the Tennessee Tech RAM clinic for five years, since I was a senior in high school and my brother recruited me to help out. Knowing that I’m taking a leadership role and being able to help the community around me is really meaningful. We’re bringing a clinic to people who otherwise may not have access to health care. Some patients come year after year, and that’s the only care they get. It reminds me why I want to go into medicine and why giving back matters so much. It’s a big impact.”
The Remote Area Medical Clinic provides a variety of services completely free of charge, with no proof of insurance required to access the services. Last year, as noted by Coonce, the clinic provided services to 416 adults and 34 children. These services included 648 dental extractions, 139 fillings, 121 dental cleanings, 89 medical exams, 242 pairs of prescription glasses, hundreds of vision screenings, and hundreds of patient education sessions. It is estimated that the total value of all of the care provided was in excess of $400,000.
The leadership team for this year’s clinic includes Stovall, his co-lead Lauren Knight, promotions lead Leah Secker, parking lead Joshua Brittenham, recruitment lead Annika Ray, hospitality lead Kaylie Gallaher and fundraising lead Amelia Scarlett.
Knight said, “Caleb and I have worked especially well together because my skills and his skills aren’t necessarily the same. Skills that I’m weak in, for instance, he tends to excel in and vice versa. Once we established our group communication pattern, things seemed to settle into a natural process for us.”
Gallaher said of the experience so far, “It’s taught me leadership skills I didn’t even know I had.”
Services are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Individuals who want to receive care are able to enter the parking lot to wait beginning at midnight on March 20. All patients will receive medical care and must choose between vision or dental care.
For more information about Tennessee Technological University, visit the school’s website.