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The annual Mr. MUSC male beauty pageant will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 22 at the Footlight Players Theatre on Queen Street in downtown Charleston.
All proceeds from the event go to the Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic (BIFMC), a non-profit organization that provides health care to uninsured adults living at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level on Johns, Wadmalaw and James islands. The volunteer-run facility has seen nearly 3,000 patients free of charge.
The Mr. MUSC pageant began four years ago as the Mr. CHP pageant, allowing only students in the College of Health Professions to participate. Its success prompted the college to expand the pageant to the entire university the following year.
Last year's event raised a total of $1,250 and included five contestants from various parts of the university. The goal of this year's pageant is to raise $2,400.
David Astaphan, president of the physician assistant's class of 2014 in the College of Health Professions, was tasked with planning the 2013 pageant. He enlisted the help of his fellow students to determine where the proceeds should be donated. A student who volunteered at the clinic suggested it.
Astaphan finalized his decision after reading the story of Mrs. Johnson, the clinic's 1,000th patient, who first visited BIFMC after losing her health insurance in 2008.
"A woman, who had severely uncontrolled diabetes that had become so bad she went blind, went to the clinic and was seen," Astaphan said. "They managed to reverse it, get her diabetes under control and her vision came back."
Astaphan said there will be anywhere from five to seven beauty pageant participants – from medicine, physical therapy, anesthesia for nurses, physician assisting, graduate studies and hospital administration programs.
Judging those contestants will be professors from MUSC and a volunteer from BIFMC. They'll tally the scores from the swimwear, talent and formal-wear categories to determine the winner.
"I've confirmed a really popular anatomy teacher to judge. Dr. Jack Thomas teaches the physician assistants, the physical therapists and the occupational therapists. He was also the 2012 teacher of the year for the College of Health Professions," Astaphan said. "I'm trying to get a judge from medicine and nursing so we can have about five total judges representing the different programs."
Each contestant will also be able to earn points through the "penny wars" contest, which will take place Monday, Feb. 18 through Friday, Feb. 22 in the first floor lobby of the Colbert Education Center & Library from noon until 1 p.m. daily. Visitors will be asked to put pennies in the jar of their favorite contestant in order to boost their total points.
Tickets for the pageant may be purchased at the door for $10 each. For more information about the Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic, visit http://www.bifmc.org/Home.aspx.
Friday, Feb. 15, 2013
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