Student-Run Free Clinics

Student-run, faculty-supervised clinics in San Antonio's Alpha Home, San Antonio Metropolitan Ministries, Seton Home and Travis Park United Methodist Church provide basic but much-needed healthcare services to people who struggle simply to survive. Volunteering at the student clinic provides an opportunity for all four classes of medical students to interact and learn from each other.

Sharing in a community project not only establishes a connection between classes, but also ensures continuity of services from year to year. Incoming first-year students learn valuable skills from fourth-year students and these skills are handed down. Through new experiences, pre-clinical students can envision their role in the clinic throughout their four years of medical school and see the value in their continued participation in the project.

Faculty involvement is also critical to the continuity of these clinics from year to year. Faculty volunteers contribute to an open learning environment in which they interact with students in a more personal and relaxed environment than a traditional clinical rotation. Volunteering in a free clinic also gives first- and second-year students the rare opportunity to establish mentoring relationships with faculty.

A fifth clinic site is expected to open at the new Haven for Hope Campus in 2010.