Schools of Osteopathic Medicine and Physical Therapy Hold Follow-up Amigos en Medicina Clinic
1月, the UIW 骨科医学院 (UIWSOM), the UIW School of Physical Therapy (SoPT), Ortho-SA and CHRISTUS Health partnered to form Amigos en Medicina (AEM). Together they are providing free hip and knee arthritis evaluations for Southside residents in San Antonio. The goal of 诊所 is to care for patients that may otherwise not seek medical attention, educate patients by providing information that targets ailments identified, and build trust between the healthcare system and participants.
The second AEM clinic held in May partnered the UIWSOM, SoPT, Ortho-San安东尼奥, CHRISTUS Health and River City Produce to follow up with 12 patients, tracking their progress from the inaugural AEM clinic held in January.
“The Amigos en Medicina Clinic provides SoPT/SOM students with invaluable experience on the evaluation, 鉴别诊断, prognosis and treatment of individuals with knee and hip osteoarthritis,博士说。. Shaffer Scott, associate dean and professor of the SoPT. “It also allows students to work with various healthcare disciplines like orthopaedics, family medicine and physical therapy, in a collaborative environment that is focused on holistic health and maximizing patient function. 最重要的是, students leave this experience with a greater appreciation for community service and how they can make an impact on the health of others.”
“The Amigos en Medicina program granted me the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary capacity with UIWSOM and see the positive influence that different professions can make on a patient's plan of care,扎卡里·金宁格补充道, SoPT的二年级学生. “这是一次无价的经历.”
埃文·赖特, a rising fourth-year learner at SOM, was instrumental in the administration and organization of
诊所. As the point of contact for patients, he ensured attendees were informed of the process and knew what to expect, particularly for the first clinic early in the semester.
“我的角色, 具体地说, was to contact the patients so that I could know a little bit about them and get them familiar with us and what we were trying to do,赖特说。. “I was going to get them scheduled to have their appointment with us. I was also scheduling them to get their X-rays from CHRISTUS … And then on the day of the first event, 我的角色更多是在外面, making sure that the functions that needed to happen at 诊所 were going to happen and tending to issues as they came up.”
During the follow-up clinic, Wright was excited to be more hands-on with the patients. 他和克里斯蒂安·艾伦, 即将升入管理学院二年级的学生, were grateful for the opportunity to interact directly with patients.
“我看到了很多笑容, and then even one patient who couldn't believe the improvements he saw coming from the first visit to the second visit,艾伦评论道。. “The overwhelming gratitude to the faculty, staff and students is something that I’ll take with me for a long time.”
现在, Wright and Allen are transitioning into a role of consolidating the information they have gathered to create a more streamlined process for future clinics. 通过AEM, UIWSOM and SoPT students have learned more about the discrepancies in healthcare opportunities for underserved communities, as well as how to give back to the community that has welcomed them as they work towards becoming healthcare professionals.
"UIW students are servant leaders," said Dr. Emma Santa Maria, a UIW faculty member who was instrumental in securing the grant creating AEM. "These experiences bring social health disparities to the forefront and encourage students to find ways of minimizing or eliminating gaps within this community through partnerships and resources. Changing the world may be impossible in one day but changing the world around us is possible and our students do just that with each patient they see through these real-world experiences."