The Hilltop - Free Clinic Coming to Campus (original) (raw)

Raolat Abdulai, director and co-founder of the “New Freedmen’s Clinic” presented a detailed plan Monday to open the community oriented clinic in early May.

The after hour’s clinic, open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. one night per week, will provide physical exams, wellness check-ups, preventative care, non-urgent care and diagnostic testing.
Abdulai said the clinic will also offer social services, urgent care and specialty services such as women’s health and nutrition.

The project sponsored by the Dean of the College of Medicine, Robert E. Taylor, M.D., Ph.D. will provide medical students and nursing students the opportunity to gain clinical experience while giving surrounding communities access to free quality health care.
The clinic will be supervised under the direction of licensed faculty and college of medicine graduates who have completed their specialized medical training.

They will also be tasked with writing prescriptions for patients while ensuring students obey current health regulations and standards.

Abdulai said the clinic will consist of two teams of medical personnel who provide services for uninsured and under deserved patients.

The “red team” will provide care for patients from the Howard University Hospital emergency department and the “blue team” will handle patients discharged from the Howard hospital or patients who are scheduled for a follow-up at the “New Freedmen’s Clinic” by their physicians.

Students are encouraged to visit the student health center first but are permitted to receive services at the free clinic.

The “New Freedmen’s Clinic Initiative” steering committee recently applied for a $30,000 AAMC Caring for the Community Grant, and Abdulai said the committee is hoping to hear a response in the near future.

“This project is moving full force,” Abdulai said. “I’ve always wanted to do this, I wanted to have a mobile free clinic but I couldn’t find funding for that.”

Abdulai, a third year medical student became interested in starting a student-run clinic after attending a pre-conference seminar in Portland, Or. with students from George Washington University.

“I got some insight on running a student clinic and I came back and held an interest meeting,” Abdulai said of the project that nearly 150 students, faculty and volunteers were eager to become a part of the project.

Abdulai was 1 of 80 women picked out of 3,300 to attend the, “O Magazine, Women Rule! White House Women Leadership” project, which afforded her the opportunity to attend a training conference in New York, she said the program helped her develop the project.

Silvia Gesheva, finance and fundraising chair of the “New Freedmen’s Clinic” steering committee is directing the fundraising efforts for the clinic.

Gesheva, a second year medical student, said her team is working on several fundraisers including a golf tournament, radio-a-thon and a five mile run she hopes all students and organizations will participate in.

“I’ve always wanted to do something for the community, that’s one of the reasons I came to Howard University,” Gesheva said. “It’s supposed to be community oriented.”

The clinics steering committee is also comprised of undergraduate students within the school of business, social work, nursing and graduate students in the school of dentistry.

Abdulai’s goal is to expand the clinic by creating partnerships with other schools and departments, in addition to teaming up with other health organizations to provide greater services to patients with no health coverage.

The clinic will be located in the Howard University Hospital outpatient center, Suite C. For information more information about volunteer opportunities or information regarding the

“New Freedmen’s Clinic” send e-mail inquiries to nfclinic@gmail.com.