OUWB’s student-run clinic marks 5 years
When sign-up sheets become available for Student-Run Free Clinic at Pontiac’s Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic, OUWB students fill all the volunteer slots in minutes.
The reason is simple: for most medical students, it’s the very first opportunity they have to interact with patients in a clinical setting — and in a way that’s consistent with OUWB’s commitment to community.
In 2021, the Student Run Free Clinic (SRFC) celebrates five years of serving the community in partnership with the Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic.
“This clinic just gets you so excited and happy and (you realize) this is why I’m doing this,’” says Michael Moussa, an M3 who works at the clinic.
“It’s very revitalizing and very human…it’s an honor to serve and our school does a great job in providing these opportunities.”
Other students share similar sentiments.
“When you’re in your M1 and M2 year, you really don’t have many clinical experiences at all, so that in and of itself makes the experience very rewarding,” says Yousef Ibrahim, M3 clinical advisor and part of the leadership team at the clinic.
“On top of that, you see patients who are from an underserved community; it’s rewarding seeing them come in and finding help in places that they otherwise wouldn’t have thought help was available.”
“(Medical students) really want to feel like a doctor, and I think this gives them an opportunity to do just that,” says Srikala Yedavally, D.O., assistant professor in the OUWB Department of Family Medicine & Community Health and advisor to the SRFC.
(Only partial stories are posted here with hopes to provide a brief overview and introduction to my most recent work. The full version of this story may be found on the OUWB InMedicine site here.)
