Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/610185
t m c » p u l s e | d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 5 27 hundreds of student volunteers and served over 4,000 patients. "A lot of students really love the fact that they're getting early exposure to real patients," said Camille Keenan, an M.D./MPH candidate at UTHealth Medical School and executive director of the HOMES Clinic. "You're getting to use what you're learning in a classroom in a real situation that is low stress and low pressure, so it really gives you an opportunity to grow and use your new clinical skills in a setting that actually matters. "At the same time, once they volun- teer at the clinic, they also take away a better understanding of these people's situations," she added. "They're able to understand more where homeless indi- viduals are coming from, and cultivate an additional level of respect for those who work in the field of mental health, because that addresses a huge portion of the population." Maintaining clinic hours every Sunday—studies have shown that medical care is nonexistent for the homeless on that day, with the excep- tion of local emergency rooms—the students arrive promptly at 9 a.m. Shedding their white coats and badges, they spend the first hour of the day meeting patients—simply sitting down and striking up a conversation to gain some insight into the lives of the people they'll serve. Afterwards, interdisci- plinary teams of three, which include a clinical student, a basic science student, and a pharmacist-in-training, will see their first patient. Following a com- prehensive, 45-minute evaluation, the teams present the patient to the attend- ing physician to formulate and review a plan of care. Finally, after each team has seen two patients, a group reflection session enables them to decompress and process their experiences. "The biggest thing, for us, is not only THE STREET OUTREACH TEAM AIMS TO ENGAGE HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS AND PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE, AS WELL AS SUGGESTIONS FOR OBTAINING THE BEST, MOST PERSONALIZED CARE POSSIBLE. treating patients then and there, but also trying to let them know about the resources that are available now that they've seen us," said John T. Sigalos, a medical student at Baylor and one of the managers at the HOMES Clinic. "Maybe now they can get help on social welfare issues or come back to the clinic during regular hours to continue their treatment. Most of the stuff that we do is fairly chronic, and we want our patients to get into the system so that they can receive continuous treatment."