It could happen in a field near an abandoned building in Detroit. Or a now-defunct library in a small rural town.
The locations may differ, but the mission is the same: medical students reaching out to provide health care to uninsured people.
The student-run free medical clinic is an outreach effort that’s offered by most medical schools. Usually, it’s staffed by first and second year med students who are responsible for virtually every aspect of the clinic. An M.D. is on hand to write prescriptions and confirm diagnoses. But it really is these med students who are giving most of the care.
What are the pros and cons of these free student-run clinics?
Jennifer Xu is a medical student at the University of Michigan. She recently wrote a piece for The Atlantic entitled “Letting Medical Students Run The Clinic.” She joined us today to tell us more about it.
Listen to the full interview above.
