If you are a medical student and would like to volunteer please log in above and register.
Medical Director: Fiona Prabhu, M.D.
Assistant Medical Director: Kelly Bennett, M.D.
Student Liaison: Justin Berk, MS I (justin.berk@ttuhsc.edu)
The TTUHSC student-run Free Clinic is an urgent care clinic that seeks to provide free basic healthcare to the working poor and homeless population of Lubbock and concomitantly enhance student education through service to the community. Our healthcare services are offerred at no cost to the patient. Physicians and medical students from the TTUHSC School of Medicine run the clinic every Wednesday night from 6:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Our community partner is Lubbock Impact who pays for the prescriptions we prescribe, provides the facility, reception staff, and resource counseling, as well as a free meal at 5:30 p.m. before the clinic, and a clothes closet.
MS1s: You will be triaging patients, then shadowing upper level students in exam rooms. As soon as you learn how to take the HPI or performing physical exams, we want you to practice those skills. (The upper level student will be there to make sure you cover everything and do exams correctly.)
MS2s: You will see patients and be expected to write at least one SOAP note and have it checked by a physician before you leave. Upper level students are expected to act as a back-up for the lower years and offer guidance throughout the patient encounter.
MS3/MS4s: We would like to utilize you more as teachers for the lower years and to provide guidance during patient encounters/oral presentations to physicians. You will write the SOAP note while the lower years perform the interview/exams.
GENERAL VOLUNTEER INFORMATION:
Clinic dress and equipment: No formal clinic attire or white coat is required. You may wear matching scrubs or jeans and a t-shirt. No shorts are allowed and closed toed shoes are required.
What to Bring: Your red TTUHSC name badge, stethoscope, watch and a pen.
When: Every Wednesday evening, including holidays.
Arrival time for student volunteers: 5:30 p.m. (even if you have volunteered before!)
Please email FreeClinic@ttuhsc.edu if you have any questions.
Clinic location:
Lubbock IMPACT/TTUHSC Free Clinic
2707 34th St.
Lubbock, TX 79410
(Corner of 34th and Boston, between University and Indiana, next to Lubbock Ambulance. Park on the south side of the building and enter through the door on the left. It has a blue awning & there is a yellow ramp in front of the door.)
PRIOR TO ARRIVING AT CLINIC
· Review and practice how to quickly take a BP, pulse, respiration rate, CC, HPI and physical examination skills. (It should take you 5 minutes to triage a patient and another 5 minutes to take a pertinent HPI & physical exam.)
ARRIVAL AT CLINIC
To enter the building, push the doorbell button and wait for the light to turn green before opening the door.
· Sign in at the computer near the Nurse’s station.
· We go down to get food at 5:30pm, then start orientation.
Please finish your meal and throw your trash away before clinic begins at 6pm. (Please do not dispose of trash at the Nurse’s station or in a trash can with a RED bag.)
· OVERALL FLOW OF THE CLINIC
Students will arrive at 5:30pm. (Patients may be lining up outside the door.)
Patients enter & register starting at 6pm.
1. Patients get a name card when they complete their paperwork. That name card will be brought to the front desk counter and put in order for triage. (If they are new patients, they will have all their paperwork with them.) Triage teams (usually 2 first years) will obtain vitals and chief complaint in 5 min. (Vital signs/triage information include: height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate, temperature, allergies, drug/tobacco/alcohol use, LMP, current medications and CC.)
2. When triage is complete, patients will go back to the waiting room while the medical student team takes the chart to the front desk. Notify the person behind desk of any abnormal vital signs. Place the chart in the folder rack in order & then take the next name card in line. (Repeat until all patients are triaged. Triage rooms will turn into examination rooms once all patients have been triaged.)
3. Teams for the examination rooms (usually an upper level paired with a lower level student) will call the patients from the waiting room whenever there is an available room. Teams have 5 minutes to complete an HPI and pertinent physical examination.
4. Teams will come out and present to any available physician. After student presentations students and the physician will go and see the patient (there is no exact time limit when physicians are in the room).
*Labs: If the physician orders labs, students fill out the necessary forms and have the option of performing the labs (You MUST have nurse supervision). Make sure someone from the student team stays with the patient at all times. Do not start seeing another patient until the patient is ready to leave.
5. After labs (or if no labs are needed), teams will escort patients to social work where resource counselors will try and connect patients with medical insurance. (Meanwhile, the physician will be completing the chart and calling in any medications.)
6. A copy of the medications list and physician’s SOAP note will be given to the patient before discharge. Again, do not start seeing another patient until the patient has all of their forms, has had a chance to ask any last questions, and is ready to leave.
7. If the pt has HTN (Hypertension) or DM (Diabetes), we have a HTN/DM educator that the patient can talk to after they go through social work.
*Students are encouraged to ask questions (to upper classmen, the leadership team, nurses, and physicians) so take advantage of the learning experience!
END OF CLINIC
When there are no more charts in the chart rack, clinic is over. Check-out with a leadership team-member after seeing your last patient.
*2nd years must fill out 1 practice SOAP note during the night and have it checked by Dr. Prabhu (or one of the other physicians).
POINTS TO REMEMBER
5 MINUTE RULE: 5 Min for Triage & 5 Min for student teams to see patients before presenting to the attending.
There is a lot of paperwork. Ask questions if you are not sure about something.
Triage Teams:
o Limit triage to 5 minutes/patient.
o Verify patient name & DOB (date of birth) for return patients (We have several patients with similar names and families with Jr & Sr).
o Ensure that the patient's name and DOB are on EVERY page in the chart.
o Obtain and properly document date/time of triage, vital signs, chief complaint, drug allergies and current medications.
o Notify the desk of any abnormal vital sign values (a chart with normal ranges is posted in the triage rooms.
Patient Teams:
o Limit your patient encounter to 5 minutes/patient o Check the following before turning in a patient chart to the desk:
§ SOAP note has been complete and signed by the physician
§ Medication list has been updated with the newly prescribed medications
§ Copies of the SOAP note and medication list have been given to the patient
§ Visit summary sheet (date, diagnosis, medications prescribed) has been filled out
§ Copy of lab request has been made (if applicable). The copy goes to the nurse, the original goes in the chart.
§ Student OSCE sheet, ROS sheet has been signed and dated by whoever filled it out (if applicable). Make sure that the patient's name and DOB are added to the top to these pages!
o DO NOT begin seeing another patient until the chart is complete for the previous patient and the patient is ready to leave.
HOUSEKEEPING RULES
RED trash bags are for biohazard waste material ONLY. Dispose of material soaked in blood or other bodily fluids in these trash bags. (These cost a lot of money to dispose of & are therefore NOT for thermometer covers, etc!!)
Throw away your food/trash before clinic starts at 6pm.
Change the white examination paper after each patient visit.
Please keep noise level down. (It is hard to listen to a patient's heart/lungs in the exam room when everyone out in the main room is talking!)
Please feel free to leave any feedback, comments or suggestions. Email: freeclinic@ttuhsc.edu