SPH Students Lead Neighborhood Clinic

Every Monday night the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic opens its doors for business.

Operating out of a church basement a couple of miles from downtown Minneapolis, the clinic has a twofold mission. The first is to provide culturally appropriate health care to those who are underinsured and underserved. The second is to provide a real-world service learning experience to University of Minnesota students.

Among those students are clinic co-chairs Kirsten Klevan and Matt Eggebrecht and operations chair Christie Martin. The three SPH students--along with peers from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, and other schools at the University--oversee all aspects of the clinic.

The volunteer position offers Klevan an inspiring way to contribute while in school.

"I like the community of students that comes together to work where our efforts are needed," she says. "It fires me up for a career in health care."

This year, the board received 110 applications for the clinic's 60 volunteer positions. The volunteers work closely with University of Minnesota physicians.

The opportunity to work with the Latino community and the interdisciplinary learning environment is what drew Martin to the clinic.

"It's amazing to see the big picture, how physical therapy, pharmacy, medicine, and administration can come together," she says. The clinic recently implemented an electronic records system, a feat that many traditional clinics have not yet accomplished.

A possible next step: expanding hours to a second night.

"Our goal is to give the same quality of care as any clinic," says Eggebrecht.

Learn more at www.phillips.neighborhoodclinic.com.