Read St. Petersburg Times story about Bridge Healthcare Clinic...

Left to right: Senior medical students Shelby Kent, Samuel Crane, Waldo Guerrero and Omar Hammad, are founders and directors of the Bridge Healthcare Clinic.

- Bridge Healthcare Clinic to serve uninsured patients in university area -

Tampa, FL (Oct. 2, 2007) -- USF Health students opened the first free student-directed clinic Oct. 2 to serve uninsured patients age 18 and older in the university community area. The Bridge Healthcare Clinic is a new venture that encourages collaboration among medical students at all levels to learn how community needs can be met. The new clinic provides a setting for USF Health students and undergraduate patient advocates to gain hands-on experience in culturally competent medicine, while learning about the challenges of practicing medicine with underserved patients.

Students participate directly in the care and planning of the patient's health visits. Patients are seen by a team including a patient coordinator, a third or fourth-year medical student, a first or second-year medical student, a social worker and an attending clinician who oversees the diagnosis.

"Big change starts with little actions," said Douglas Holt, MD, medical director of the Hillsborough County Health Department, which provides the facility to house the clinic. "This group of students set up a legacy that will last beyond their medical school class. They persevered and made the idea for this clinic happen, coming up with solutions for each obstacle along the way."

Along with primary care, the clinic will provide access to medications, social services, physical therapy, health education, health screenings, vaccinations and other public health and support services. The clinic, housed in the health department’s University Area Community Health Center just blocks away from USF’s Tampa campus, will be open from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays.

The Bridge Healthcare Clinic is sponsored by USF Health, the Florida Department of Health, Quest Diagnostics, Allscripts, and the American Medical Association.

For more information go to bridgehealthcareclinic.com

Story by Anne DeLotto Baier
Photography by Eric Younghans, USF Health Media Center