UF volunteer clinic lauded for serving area residents with limited resources

The Equal Access Clinic, a weekly free clinic run by University of Florida medical students, has received UF’s Student Volunteer Organization of the Year award, given by the university’s Office of Community Service, for sustained exceptional performance and outstanding contributions to the campus community.

Jeanette Chun, special projects coordinator for the Equal Access Clinic and a second-year student in UF’s College of Medicine, was surprised and grateful to learn of the award.

“If word of the award gets around, it’ll get students volunteering, and I’d like to see more students involved,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity. Because of my involvement, I can see improvements in myself.”

Opportunities to volunteer are available to all UF College of Medicine students. Premedical students can participate through UF’s chapter of the American Medical Student Association. At least 10 student volunteers are on staff to provide a “potpourri of services,” Chun said. As many as 60 people from Alachua County and surrounding areas are treated each month, and there is no special financial qualification to become a patient.

“We treat anyone who walks in the door. And we do everything, basically,” Chun said. “If there’s something we can’t take care of, like a broken bone, we send them to the emergency room. But for something like a severe cold, we treat them here.”

Volunteer students from UF’s College of Dentistry care for patients at the clinic, which also offers the services of a mental health expert once a month. In addition, a different day each month is designated a special women’s night, Chun said.

“We get women coming in for pap smears and pregnancy tests, and we do STD and anonymous HIV-antibody testing,” she said.

Chun said after a patient walks through the door, his or her vital signs, including blood pressure, are measured by a premedical student. The student prepares a chart, which is reviewed by a student officer. The student officer then assigns a medical student, who performs a physical, prepares a medical history and makes a preliminary diagnosis. A College of Medicine faculty member reviews the diagnosis before the patient receives treatment.

“The faculty are here to aid students in learning and make sure the patients are taken care of appropriately,” Chun said.

Students also volunteer at the clinic simply because they enjoy it, she said.

“During the first two years of medical school, you’re bombarded with information, and some students lose sight of the reason they went to medical school in the first place: to help patients,” Chun said. “When you come here, you get to talk to patients and integrate your knowledge with practice. And you feel good; you’re helping somebody out.”

Patrick Duff, M.D., the UF College of Medicine’s associate dean for student affairs, nominated the Equal Access Clinic for the award. He said the clinic is an example of altruism at its very best.

“This is totally a student-directed and student-run community resource,” he said. “The students doing the lion’s share of the work are still in their first and second years of medical school, so they’re tremendously busy with academic assignments, and yet they give very generously of their time to help the indigent population of Gainesville.”

The students organize and staff the clinic, solicit money to maintain it and seek donations of medications and supplies. Area clinics and physicians donate medical supplies, and fund-raising activities such as the annual Equal Access 5K Run bring the clinic funds to prescribe medication for patients who cannot afford it, Chun said. The clinic also receives funding from UF Student Government.

The Equal Access Clinic treats patients every Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at facilities provided by the Family Practice Medical Group, 624 S.W. 4th Ave.