Rural health clinic reopens
By: Karen Schroeder
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: News
Last update: 2/19/08 at 6:19 AM EST
Last update: 2/19/08 at 6:19 AM EST
|
Run by students of the Duke School of Medicine's chapter of the North Carolina Student Rural Health Coalition, the Fremont People's Clinic was re-opened six months ago after a two-year hiatus, said third-year medical student and group Co-chair Donald Lucas. It was forced to close when the attending physician, a Duke faculty member, could no longer participate.
One Saturday each month, three first-year Duke medical students and three third-years, who act as mentors, make the 90-minute journey southeast to Fremont, a rural town located about 70 miles from Durham.
They now see about 10 patients per visit, but it used to be 20 to 30, Lucas said.
"There was a loss of trust when we had to leave, so we are trying to regain that trust," he said.
One of the chapter's main goals is to increase the number of patients they help in the clinic. Lucas said the group is trying to advertise their services by getting churches to send patients in their direction.
"The town has 1,000 people, 25 churches and no doctors," he said.
Many of the residents have no way of getting to medical care, Lucas said, adding that the clinic is very important to the community and that many people use it as their primary care.
Hamza Aziz, another third-year medical student and co-chair of the group, said he recently saw one man at the clinic who had dangerously high blood pressure but was not taking any medication.
The man had come to the clinic before it closed, but did not see another physician in the following two years because he could not afford it, Aziz said.
Even when the physician at the clinic prescribes a medication, there is no guarantee the patient will ever obtain it from a pharmacy due to transportation and money issues, Aziz added.
The clinic sees many patients with high blood pressure, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, which are often neglected.
Aziz said he was amazed to see such a disparity in health care between the small town of Fremont and the relatively nearby Raleigh.
"Some of the very treatable, common things-which are non-issues at Duke-are very important for these people," Aziz said.
The clinic is held in a double-wide trailer that community member and clinic volunteer Doris Hall obtained from the Federal Emergency Management Agency 20 years ago, Lucas said. It is staffed by the Duke students, Hall and her fellow local volunteers and attending physician Dr. Jeff Margolis, who visits from a medical center 30 minutes away.
The students perform routine procedures, like taking blood pressure, drawing blood and giving flu and pneumonia vaccines under Margolis' supervision. For many first-years, it is their first time giving a shot, Lucas said.
In addition to getting clinical experience, students are learning to communicate with people from different backgrounds and to put the needs of the community first, said Dr. Barbara Sheline, assistant dean for primary care of the medical school and faculty advisor for the chapter.
"Our clinic is not a model for patient care but for community partnership," Sheline said. "[But] once a month is not enough-they need a presence there at least Monday through Friday."
Be the first to comment on this story