Shaping Healthy Futures Through Preventive Medicine

Having Grown up 25 minutes north of Provo, Utah, Andrew ‘Drew’ Francis, OMS II, had a strong network of family and friends there before his young family relocated from Idaho to further his medical education at Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (Noorda-COM). Rejoining his hometown community as a parent and a future physician, Drew found a new connection and purpose to anchor him.

As executive council vice president of Noorda-COM's Student Government Association, Drew helps organize clinical experiences and community engagement opportunities for his peers. That’s where he began working with Kaufusi's Keikis, a childhood preventive health program initiated by Noorda-COM and supported by a unique partnership with Provo Mayor’s Office and the Provo City School District.

Noorda-COM student conducts a head, ears, eyes, nose, oral, throat exam on a child at an Kaufusi’s Keikis event

“Being a father of five young children, it hits home for me to be involved with a program that helps conduct medical screenings on elementary school-aged kids from medically underserved and lower-income families,” Drew shared about why he chose to get involved with the program.

Kaufusi's Keikis, meaning Kaufusi’s ‘kids’ in Hawaiian, is named after Mayor Michelle Kaufusi and honors her husband’s Hawaiian and Pacific Islander background. Raised in Provo by a single mother alongside her six siblings, Mayor Kaufusi has spoken about the social services her family relied on growing up and that inspired her to give back.

Video introducing the Kaufusi’s Keikis program

Through the program, Noorda-COM students arrange free, head-to-toe health screening fairs at Title 1 schools in the city, helping families in underserved areas identify health-related needs and access health services for their kids. Seven of the city’s 13 schools fall under the Title 1 designation and benefit from this optional service that is designed to help families navigate the healthcare system. Since its launch in 2024, the program has held six screenings and served more than 350 children.

A child uses a stethoscope to listen to a KCU-COM student’s heartbeat during a Kaufusi’s Keikis event

Each health fair has screening stations for vital signs, cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, head, ears, eyes, nose, oral, throat, neurological, vision and musculoskeletal assessment. To engage their young patients, the program provides “passports” and stickers, along with other partner giveaways, to encourage families to visit each station and learn about their child’s health and preventive approaches.

Creating Opportunities for Success

For many students and their families, these events are their first encounter with preventive healthcare—a chance to be seen and cared for in a safe, judgement-free place.

“I look at this as a huge honor, to be able to provide medical screenings for these incredible youth in our community. It opened my eyes. I was so lucky growing up to have had the upbringing I did. I thought everybody had regular checkups like I did, and it's been humbling, especially having kids of my own. With a young family and no income while I complete medical school, I’m working with families not unlike my own. We kind of get it,” Drew shared.

Noorda-COM students check vitals for their young patients

Undetected vision impairments are the most common issue that Drew and his peers have addressed through their screenings. Vision-related issues can impact many dimensions of a child’s life, like their confidence and grades, in addition to their health and well-being.

Drew recounted telling a father about his child’s failed vision test, “I could see his eyes getting big when they couldn’t tell us the letters. I explained how getting them to an eye doctor could help them be able to see the board and understand their teachers better. You could see a mixed feeling of embarrassment and devastation at first, and, after processing the information, he began to light up because he realized the children could have a completely different experience in school.”

Drew’s involvement in caring for underserved communities through Kaufusi’s Keikis and his previous 10-year career in law enforcement, the latter eight as a state trooper in rural Idaho, shaped his aspirations in medicine. He hopes to compassionately serve patients during their most difficult interactions with the healthcare system in emergency medicine and leverage his investigative approach to address root causes of illness.

Meaningful Connections

Dr. Namea Hekekia, assistant dean for clinical education at Noorda-COM, sees the program as a bridge between the medical school and the community—a living embodiment of the school’s mission to prepare compassionate, confident and culturally aware physicians.

“As an educator, it’s really rewarding to be able to see budding physicians practice the skills they learn,” Dr. Hekekia shared, reflecting on how medical students learn to communicate across languages, cultures, ages and even medical specialty while working toward the same goal.

The community has rallied behind the opportunities for health that Kaufusi’s Keikis offers. Funding to sustain the program comes from private donations, with the largest fundraiser coming from the Provo Open annual golf tournament.

Noorda-COM students pose together

“The biggest testament we have is our families asking if we’re going to come back to their school and our community partners, local businesses and physicians calling us to see how they can get involved,” shared Dr. Hekekia.

As Kaufusi’s Keikis grows its partnerships and reach, Dr. Hekekia explained her hopes to reach more at-risk students in and around Provo, bridge access to more social services and help other schools launch similar programs in their own communities.

By focusing on preventive care, Kaufusi’s Keikis is laying the foundation for a healthier Provo and inspiring the next generation of caring, competent and community-focused physicians.

Beginning in 2026, Kaufusi’s Keiki’s will be renamed as NOORDA C.A.R.E.S. (Community • Awareness • Resources • Education • Service) to more clearly align it with Noorda-COM's mission and support its planned expansion into additional communities. Look out for more here.

Andrew "Drew" Francis is a dedicated husband to Brianne and a proud father of five. He was born and raised in Sandy, Utah, where he developed a passion for service through his faith as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2011, he moved to Idaho to earn his bachelor's degree in health sciences from Brigham Young University–Idaho. Upon graduation, Drew pursued a career in law enforcement, serving as a State Trooper for eight years with the Idaho State Police Department. Here he had the privilege of honoring fallen officers on the Honor Guard as well as gaining valuable clinical and forensic experience as a certified drug recognition expert and law enforcement phlebotomist before relocating back to Utah to pursue his medical education.

Drew is currently an OMS-II at Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine. In addition to his studies, he serves as the Vice President of the Executive Council in the Student Government Association at Noorda-COM. In this role, Drew focuses on enhancing clinical education by expanding opportunities for medical students and acting as a liaison between students and the clinical faculty. Outside of his academic and professional pursuits, he enjoys spending time with his family, coaching his children’s sports teams and cheering on the New York Yankees and BYU athletics.

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