If you are a medical student and would like to volunteer, please email the student liaison or freeclinic@ttuhsc.edu

Medical Director: Fiona Prabhu, M.D.

Assistant Medical Director: Kelly Bennett, M.D.

Student Liaison: Jean Dai, MS2 (Jean.Dai@ttuhsc.edu)

The Free Clinic seeks to provide free basic healthcare to the uninsured adult (18-64 years) population of Lubbock and concomitantly enhance student education through service to the community. Our healthcare services are offered at no cost to the patient. Physicians and medical students from the TTUHSC School of Medicine run the clinic every Wednesday night from 4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Our community partner is Lubbock Impact who 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 and hygiene closet.

MS1s: You will triage patients and 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 and the leadership team before you leave. Upper level students are expected to offer guidance throughout the patient encounter.

MS3/MS4s: ONLY MS3/4 students may volunteer and come without being scheduled beforehand. We would you to provide guidance during patient encounters and oral presentations to physicians.

GENERAL VOLUNTEER INFORMATION:

Clinic dress andequipment: 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: 5:15 p.m. (even if you have volunteered before!)

Please email FreeClinic@ttuhsc.edu if you have any other questions.

Clinic location:

The Free Clinic
Lubbock Impact
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 5-10 minutes to take a pertinent HPI & physical exam.)

Volunteer Checklist for In-Person Visits

Before Appointment:

Sign-in at the computer at the back of the room
Grab a badge from the office with your correct year (MS1 or 2)
Collect patient chart and review

An MH Sticker on the chart indicates that you will need to do a mental health assessment on this patient and determine whether this patient should see a counselor during their visit

An SBIRT sticker on the chart indicates that you will need to do an SBIRT screening (ask an upper-level if you don’t know how to do this)

A WH sticker on the chart indicates the patient is interested in receiving a Pap-Smear or being set up for a Mammogram

A DM sticker on the chart indicates that the patient has Diabetes. If this is the case, you will need to perform a monofilament test.

You will receive a monofilament and a scoring sheet with the chart.

Check board to see what room you will be in
Once announcements have been made and there is a physician present, you may begin your patient visit

During In-Person Appointment:

When instructed by Leadership, go into patient waiting area(s) and find your patient
Take patient to assigned room

· Rooms 1-6 are downstairs

· Rooms 7-16 are upstairs

· Room 16 is used only for ophthalmology

Conduct patient interview (this should last about 10-15min)
Walk back to main room and ask Board who your upper-level consult is
Consult with upper-level and/or Attending
If necessary, return to patient room to collect additional information
Determine if your patient needs any specialty services (mental health, ophthalmology, dermatology, smoking cessation, etc) and let the Leadership Team member at the board know
Check with Pharmacy to see if the medications/supplies your patient needs are available for distribution
Collect signed prescription slips and complete appropriate lab forms

Lab forms are located on the counter near the urine specimen collection area. Make sure you fill out the forms correctly and fully.

Make sure to inform your patient that they are receiving lab work so that they do not leave

In-house labs: HbA1C, CMP

Complete information on lab form and place in the “pending orders” bin at the nursing station as soon as possible (nursing will stop collecting labs around 8:30pm)

These only take 15 minutes to result, so tell your patient to please wait so that you can discuss the results with them (if your patient leaves you will have to call them to tell them the results)

Place the lab form under the “lab tab” in the patient's chart

Out-of-house (UMC) labs

Complete information on the lab form and place in the “pending orders” bin

These will be sent out, so you do not need to worry about waiting for the results. You can tell your patient that someone will be calling them in a week with the results of their lab work

Pap smears and mammogram referrals

- patients must meet qualifying criteria. You must speak with the student liaison for availability and other supply/lab needs

Urine-Analysis

You will be performing your own urine analysis! There is a station in the lab area with all the equipment and materials you will need

Have your patient urinate in a sample cup. Then, follow the directions laid out on the urine collection station.

Document the results on the In-House Lab form and place in chart

DISPOSE OF THE URINE WHEN YOU ARE DONE.

Drop off prescriptions at pharmacy

After In-Person Appointment:

Go back to the patient room and make sure they understand the treatment plan and do not have any further questions
Let your patient know what additional services they will need before they can leave (lab work, prescriptions, mental health, social work, etc.) - hand them the follow up sheet
Remove your patient from the room and take them to social work or the waiting area

If taking to social work, hand the “Social Work Note” from the chart to the woman sitting at the desk

If a patient refuses social work, take them to the waiting area.

Stress the importance of waiting if the patient still needs additional services (labs, prescriptions, etc)

Return to the room and disinfect the room

· Change the exam table paper

· Spray/wipe the exam table, doorknobs, and anything else the patient may have touched

· Close the door on your way out

Walk back to the main room and let the Leadership Team member at the board know that your room is empty and cleaned
Ask board if there are any new patients that need to be seen

If yes, STOP HERE. Return to During In-Person Appointment and follow the checklist.

if no, continue to note writing.

Complete the Medication Reconciliation Form and the SOAP note and collect appropriate signatures

Include all current prescriptions and prescriptions given on the Medical Reconciliation Form

Complete this document in full

Make copies of the signed Medical Reconciliation Form and SOAP note, staple together, and place copies in the appropriate basket in the Leadership Office
Hole-punch the original copies of all completed forms and place in the patient chart
Give the patient chart to the Leadership Team member at the front desk in the office

There is a lot of paperwork. Ask the leadership team if you are not sure about something.

HOUSEKEEPING RULES

RED trash bags are for bio-hazard 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 6 pm.

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!)