A Roadmap to Clinic Expansion: Meeting the Needs of an Underserved Community

Abstract

In today’s medical education, student-run clinics play an integral role in helping to prepare students at all levels in their medical training. The Morehouse School of Medicine Health Equity for All Lives (MSM-HEAL) student-run clinic was established in 2011 as a place dedicated to meeting the needs of Atlanta’s underserved population. Today, the MSM-HEAL Clinic has grown in three areas: clinical sites, interdisciplinary leadership and volunteer teams, and community outreach initiatives. The purpose of this descriptive report is to demonstrate the roadmap to a clinic expansion to meet the needs of a community and how the MSM-HEAL Clinic grew in one year, marshaling financial and community resources and establishing a community outreach initiative. The MSM-HEAL Clinic has served over 1,400 individuals as of December 2017. With the expansion came the demand for funding clinic operations and patient care. A grant proposal was submitted to a community nonprofit organization. In one year, over $20,000 was raised to support MSM-HEAL. These funds made healthcare access possible by providing transportation to patients for their appointments, medication assistance, supplies for medical screenings, and seasonal community vaccination initiatives. During this one-year period the MSM-HEAL Clinic provided services to an increased number of patients and greater education for the interdisciplinary student volunteers, creating a shared benefit. The free clinic will continue to benefit the community by providing no-cost services for uninsured and underinsured patients and improve professional student clinical education while upholding the core values of family medicine.