The UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project and Fellowship in Underserved Healthcare provides free, high quality, empowering health care to peple in the US who do not qualify for and/or cannot afford any form of health insurance. At the same time, we train the next generation of health professionals to provide humanistic, transdisciplinary, empowering health care to underserved individuals and to learn that the community is their teacher. Our national training and Fellowship in Underserved in Health care creates an environment in which faculty and health professionals from around the US learn the skills needed to create similar programs around the country and create a national community of leaders passionate about empowering care of underserved communities.

Problem

The UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project and Fellowship in Underserved Healthcare provides free, high quality, empowering health care to peple in the US who do not qualify for and/or cannot afford any form of health insurance. At the same time, we train the next generation of health professionals to provide humanistic, transdisciplinary, empowering health care to underserved individuals and to learn that the community is their teacher. Our national training and Fellowship in Underserved in Health care creates an environment in which faculty and health professionals from around the US learn the skills needed to create similar programs around the country and create a national community of leaders passionate about empowering care of underserved communities.

Solution

1) Every day we practice & implement a comprehensive empowerment model that encourages people to achieve & maintain employment, addresses social or economic barriers to health, & provides comprehensive high quality healthcare. 2) Our project’s transdisciplinary providing a one stop shop for clients who receive medical, dental, social, legal, specialty, & acupuncture services, get lab tests drawn & prescriptions filled all in one accessible, trusted community setting. The cost of this care would be prohibitive & impossible to achieve for any of our clients. 3) Overhead is minimal; our community settings, 2 churches & 2 schools provide space & resources. 4) We train & inspire the next generation of health professionals to practice compassionate thorough healthcare & reinforce commitment to work with the underserved, evidenced by physician, pharmacist, dentist & specialist alumni who now volunteer. 5) Health professional volunteers & donated or low cost services make it possible to serve 2,000 patients per year at a cost of $800 per patient. 6) We provide high quality, ongoing, underserved health care, not poverty medicine, with healthcare outcomes similar or better than the VA, known for its quality. 7) Our long standing community partnerships are exemplary models of teamwork & mutual respect that allow us to provide our services. 8) What we are honored by, & makes us most different, is that we have earned the community’s trust.

Example

The UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project (SRFCP) has four key initiatives: healthcare, education, community building and work experience. First, SRFCP addresses one of our country's most pressing needs by providing comprehensive high-quality ongoing medical, pharmacy, dental care and social services to individuals without access to private or government insurance programs. SRFCP uses a humanistic, empowerment model to serve its four sites: Downtown, Pacific Beach, Baker Elementary in SE San Diego, and Golden Ave Elementary in Lemon Grove. Second, SRFCP clinics offer a unique and invaluable learning opportunity for several hundred medical, pharmaceutical, dental and integrative medicine students and a Fellowship in Underserved Healthcare—inspiring a new generation of medical professionals to work with underserved communities. SRFCP’s nationally recognized model has been replicated in more than 10 communities across the U.S. and has won awards both for service and innovation. Third, SRFCP has a comprehensive wellness initiative that serves all aspects of community: staff/teachers, parents, children, and the surrounding environment including gardens and murals. Fourth, the SRFCP provides clinical work experience—often the first step on the career ladder for low-income individuals who aspire to become health professionals. This year, the SRFCP will help hundreds overcome obstacles and empower them to access new sources of livelihood.

Marketplace

100% of SRFCP patients are low or very low income. Our patient population is made up of the uninsured, those who do not qualify for any program, and the underinsured. San Diego has a large population of working poor - those who earn too much to qualify for County Medical Services, are not eligible for Medi-Cal, and/or those who are self-employed or whose employers do not provide health benefits. The number of San Diegans without health insurance continues to increase as people lose their jobs or employers cannot afford to pay for health insurance. In 2009, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research reported that almost 1 in 4 adults (22.9%) in San Diego were uninsured – over 646,000 individuals. Community Health Improvement Partners (CHIP) reported that more than 80% of the County’s half million uninsured are from working families in low wage jobs or small businesses that cannot afford health insurance. At our Golden Avenue Elementary site we serve families of the students: 82% of the school’s families qualify for free or reduced price lunch. At the Baker Elementary site, 96.1% of families qualify for free or reduced price lunch. At our downtown and Pacific Beach sites we have significant numbers of homeless patients, 25%; however, at all 4 sites the majority of patients are the working poor who do not qualify for government sponsored programs and who cannot afford other services in the community such as community health centers.