Frontera de Salud

 

Frontera de Salud, also called Frontera, is a volunteer organization run by medical students at UTHSCSA that are committed to bringing healthcare to the underserved. Students and mentors in this program provide healthcare to people of the colonias of Corpus Christi and Laredo - two of the most impoverished regions in the nation. Both faculty and students learn to treat diverse populations and consider the unique social context of care in South Texas.

 

Frontera's mission is three-fold:

• To deliver primary care to underserved populations of South Texas
• To further the clinical and cultural competency of Frontera volunteers
• To encourage students to reflect on the profession of health care as a moral practice

In addition to providing primary care, Frontera also sponsors a lecture series at UTHSCSA and runs a legislative effort to lobby for legislature that will best serve its patients.

 

Kirk Smith, MD, PhD, at the UT Medical Branch in Galveston, started the Frontera program in 1998 based on the tremendous need for healthcare in underservedpopulations. Frontera now has chapters in four medical school campuses in Texas; UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, UT Houston, Texas A&M and UTMB.

 

Want to get involved? Join the Frontera de Salud Listserve.