Hospital Hill Students Compete in First “Rx Factor” Talent Show
Photo Credit: Bob Steckmest, School of Medicine
The first “Rx Factor” felt akin to a “Miss America” pageant — only it swapped swimsuits for scrubs.
Students from the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Hospital Hill Campus went head to head for an evening of fundraising and fun at the Student Union. This pitted female and male contestants from the schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Health Studies and Pharmacy against each other. Officially, they would win the titles of Ms. Rx Factor and Mr. Rx Factor. Unofficially, a health-sciences school or schools could claim bragging rights.
Deans from each of the Hospital Hill schools served as judges; adjunct professor John Haynes stood in for Dean Marsha Pyle to represent the School of Dentistry. Audience members also got the chance to weigh in on each round, using their mobile devices as digital ballots.
The fan favorite in the scrubs fashion round was Caroline Zeller of the School of Dentistry who sported a parrot costume and laid an egg.
The talent competition included juggling, singing, dancing and comedy routines that poked fun at their expected profession.
A mystery round revealed itself to be “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” with one of the emcees in costume as host Jeff Foxworthy. It turns out each of the students were smarter — except each contestant missed a question about vowels, forgetting the “sometimes y” rule.
And with Rx Factor being an interprofessional event, each of the six finalists was asked: What makes interprofessional education important?
In the end, the School of Pharmacy could claim total bragging rights. Brendon Wilson was crowned Mr. Rx Factor (his talent was demonstrating winning pick-up lines for getting dates). Michelle Albin, who performed a song she wrote, won the title of Ms. Rx Factor.
Three-fourths of the proceeds will support a UMKC pharmacy student undergoing cancer treatments; 25 percent will be split between Wilson and Albin to go to their chosen philanthropies, which were Defeat Cancer Now and Water Aid America, respectively.
Kappa Epsilon, a professional fraternity at the UMKC School of Pharmacy, organized the event. In its debut year, the event garnered $2,194.85 in donations.
“It was tough generating interest because this was the first year,” said Tamara Dixon, a pharmacy student who was one of the event’s main organizers. “No one — the organizers, judges, contestants or the audience — knew what to expect. But now that they do know, people have expressed interest in participating next year. “
“We feel like it was a success because it was a unique opportunity to bring the health sciences schools together for a common cause. We hope Rx Factor continues to grow.”