March 17, 2023

Match Day: Congratulations to our Student Volunteers!

The Future of Health is in the next generation of health care providers.

The Student Run Clinics (SRC) at CommunityHealth train medical students and residents in primary, specialty, pharmacy, dentistry, and nursing care with a focus on cultural competency.

Our training programs strengthen a foundation of medical ethics in future providers. In treating uninsured populations, a lasting commitment to serving vulnerable communities is instilled in trainees’ patient care.

On the third Friday of every March, CommunityHealth celebrates our fourth-year medical students as they learn of the next steps in their careers. Today students will match with a residency program for another three to seven years of experiential learning to attain licensure to practice.

 

Throughout their Medical Degree (MD), students experienced different fields of medicine through clinical rotations. Clinical rotations like our Student Run Clinics help students decide what specialty they will practice.

 

Future health care providers understand where to best apply their skills and strengths through the training programs at CommunityHealth.

One student from our partner at Midwestern University elaborates upon how CommunityHealth prepared her for residency…

CHC prepared me for residency by allowing me to have early exposure to patients and develop clinical skills very early on in medical school. It also opened my eyes to disparities in healthcare, heightening my empathy toward others and making me a better future doctor to all of my patients, regardless of their backgrounds!

 

A trainee from our community collaborator at Northwestern’s Education-Centered Medical Home explains how he will carry forth our value of Quality Health Care for All into residency…

 

The emergency department (ED) is the only place in the hospital that takes all patients, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. That mission is important to me and is at the heart of why I love emergency medicine. I strive to ensure that every patient I see there is not only receiving great care while they are with me in the ED, but also leaves the hospital with a care plan that sets them up for success when they go home.

 

And a future health care provider from our Student Run Clinic with the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University talks about the most important lesson she learned in medical school…

 

CommunityHealth has strengthened my passion for community medicine and working with patients who are underserved and need an advocate on their healthcare team. One thing I will carry forward in residency is to always remember there is an internal battle every patient may be fighting. Thus, I will give my best to my patients every day and help them as I would my own family.”

 

As more than just a free health clinic, CommunityHealth not only emboldens patient communities but invests in the providers serving them. Students today will define equity tomorrow, and we are devoted to opening space for health care professionals to represent the populations they serve.

 

Congratulations to our student volunteers on Match Day!

CommunityHealth applauds you on your success in completing medical school, thanks you for your service with our free health clinic, and roots for you in your residency. The compassion, reflexivity, and forward-thinking cultivated in our Student Run Clinics is the Future of Health.

 

Click here to donate to our training programs and support the next generation of health care providers!