It is only fitting that a student-run clinic that provides free healthcare to underinsured Toledo-area residents is called the CommunityCare Free Medical Clinic—because caring about the community is the focus of the clinic held every Thursday.
Chris Marino, the executive director of the student organization that runs the clinic, said the community connection is what inspired him to get involved when he heard about the clinic during his orientation at the University of Toledo’s College of Medicine.
“You really hear people’s stories and narratives here and it’s not just about health, but getting to know the person,” he said. “These are people who really come from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are passed around through different forms of health care. So for some of them, this is really the first opportunity to have a stable health service. I find that really motivating.”
Time to give back
Emily Yang, the clinic’s director of administration, said one of the reasons she decided to attend UT was the student-run clinic. “I’ve personally been very blessed with how I was raised; my upbringing was good and my parents were wonderful,” Yang said. “So, I thought it was about time that I gave back with my medical career. This is one of the few ways I can do it now, before I’m actually a doctor.”
Both Marino and Yang are second-year medical students.
Marino said as medical students, hands-on experience typically is not available until the students’ third and fourth years, when the students do their clerkships.
The clinic offers a good way for medical students to get real-world experience right away, Yang said.
“Most of us are in the health field for the patients, so it’s difficult to wait through the first two years when you are kept in a classroom,” Yang said. “This is the only real experience for students, unless you’re shadowing a doctor that you know.”
In addition to getting clinical experience, the students are learning to work together in an interdisciplinary program, which Marino said is good training for when they work as professional doctors.
Inter-professional training
“It’s really a student experiment for inter-professional work,” Marino said. “We have pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy. We’re just bringing it all together and starting early as a team and appreciating the different skills we all have. No one can be an expert in everything.” Other disciplines participating include nursing, respiratory therapy, physician assistants, and speech-language pathology.
The clinic was founded in Perrysburg by Dr. Richard Paat and University of Toledo medical students in 2010, originally called the Perrysburg Heights Free Clinic.
About 16 months ago, they moved from the Perrysburg location to the South Toledo Campus of CedarCreek Church, a nondenominational Christian church which was then adding a new campus in a former grocery store on Byrne Rd.
Andy Fortney, pastor of CedarCreek’s South Toledo campus, said, “When we built this building, we reached out to them and said we’ll give you the building free of charge, because we want you to have the opportunity to practice medicine.”
In addition to allowing the clinic to use the building, CedarCreek volunteers provide a free hot meal to the community every Thursday. The building has a commercial kitchen where a team of volunteers not only cooks a meal each week for the clinic, but also cooks 3,000 additional meals each month, donating them to area churches and ministries.
Members of CedarCreek also collect and donate basic health care and hygiene items to give to those who come to the clinic.
The Community Care Clinic is open every
Thursday from 6-8pm at the South Toledo
Campus of CedarCreek Church, 2150 S. Byrne Rd. For more information call 419-482-8127 or visit utcommunitycare.org
