Opportunity for ACU Student-Members

By Deepa Rani Nandiwada

The Society for Student-Run Free Clinics (SSRFC) will host a conference in January, 2010 in Jacksonville, FL, with the assistance of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. SSFRC was started by students and aims to become a national, collective voice representing student-run, free clinics. 

Health professions students across the nation are not only aware of the barriers to health care but have been actively working to create additional safety net clinics for vulnerable patients. These efforts vary greatly based on the local needs and include mobile clinics, free standing clinics, collaborations with existing free clinics, house visits, community outreach and patient education. 

Many student-run clinics have been developed and staffed by students with volunteer faculty and attending physicians recruited from the community. The clinics provide care to patients while providing students experience in providing primary care in an educational setting. Many of the clinics meet the complex needs of patients by integrating dental, physical therapy, nursing, social work, legal services and complementary and alternative medicine.

Like the clinics, the SSRFC is completely student-founded and run. Its goals are to find ways to increase communication between clinics nationally, to share ideas on projects and initiatives that can be replicated, to problem solve on a national level and to host an annual national conference. The long-term vision is to promote and support the existence of student-run clinics at every health science center and to advocate for both resources and health policy for vulnerable populations. For more information on SSRFC or the conference, visit the SSRFC Web site.