Having grown up in Boston, I often describe our amazing medical students as being “wicked smart.”
Their intellectual prowess humbles me. Our medical students’ MCAT scores rank among the top 3% nationwide.
But today I would like to focus on some of our USF Health medical and other health students’ other virtues: their deep compassion and commitment to our patients. They start exercising these muscles early by volunteering at various organizations around Tampa Bay to help the patients who need it most.
One of these groups is the student-run free clinic, BRIDGE Healthcare Clinic. In the past year alone, students from across USF Health have put in more than 12,500 hours of volunteer service at the free clinic. We have more than 100 faculty volunteers, including more than 70 physicians, who regularly attend here as well. Thanks to these efforts, BRIDGE conducts more than 1,100 patient visits each year.
Students provide free telehealth and in-person clinic services at least two days a week. Volunteers come from across USF — students from medicine, physical therapy, pharmacy, public health, social work and other programs. That means that patients can get a broader spectrum of their health care needs taken care of immediately.
“A lot of our patients are really happy to see five or six teams in one night, and have all that at one visit, so they can get their social work, pharmacy, and public health needs met all in one visit,” said Carissa Young, a fourth-year medical student who also is BRIDGE’s executive director. “They really appreciate that.”
Over the past 20 years, the number of student-run clinics in the U.S. has more than tripled. With that growth comes the need to ensure that students are prepared to administer the clinics and meet the needs of their patients.
I’m happy to say that our students have risen to the challenge. We also benefit from having incredibly skilled faculty physicians — especially the BRIDGE faculty advisers, Dr. Eduardo Gonzalez, Dr. Lucy Guerra and Dr. John Petrilli — dedicated to ensuring our students’ success. BRIDGE has earned a Gold Seal award for the past two years in a row from the National Association of Free Clinics, demonstrating that our students are mindful of the need to provide care that is not only free but also meets high quality and safety standards.
Students also have worked to help BRIDGE qualify for state funding through the Florida Association of Free and Charitable Clinics as well as through a 5-year award from Florida Blue. We’re also grateful to receive funds from other donors.
Also, this semester, students participated in several quality improvement projects and presented nine of them at the Annual Society of Student Run Free Clinics Conference in Chicago. The Society represents 214 clinics in 42 states and 11 countries.
I’m proud to say that two of these student projects won awards at the conference demonstrating our students’ commitment to ensuring and improving high-quality care. One project showed the importance of glucose monitoring for patients with diabetes, while another studied how to improve patient flow using an electronic status board, making sure that patients are seen efficiently and effectively.
I look forward to seeing what our amazing students do next. But in the meantime, I’m delighted to see them further their health education, learn more about research and quality improvement, and provide greater care for patients – all at the same time.
When USF Health asks our students to think about Making Life Better, this is what we mean.