NYMC and TCDM students and faculty partner to deliver free medical and dental services

NYMC and TCDM pupils and college husband or wife to supply free of charge health-related and dental companies

Soon after a smooth opening in April, the new La Casita de la Salud — which is Spanish for ‘the small household of health’ — officially opened on Could 6. The clinic operates on one Thursday a thirty day period from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., with ideas for expanded functions in the upcoming.

People will get longitudinal care, even though college students will get valuable scientific working experience underneath the supervision of school advisors Lori Solomon, M.D. ’99, M.P.H. ’09, Assistant Professor and Chair of the Office of Family and Neighborhood Medicine and Cirector of the Loved ones Wellness Center, and Raquel M. Rozdolski, D.M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Dental Drugs.

“The pupil-run clinic is an option for our students to actively participate in giving important treatment to these who have no area else to go, people that are marginalized,” stated Ronnie Myers D.D.S., dean of TCDM.  “They will attain an knowing of their ability to make a big difference in the lives of these people in their long term practice,” claimed Ronnie Myers D.D.S., Dean of TCDM.

Billed as a 1 halt shop for health-related and dental treatment, a normal client visit will commence with a bodily test at the Household Wellness Heart, adopted by a warm handoff to Touro Dental Wellness for a dental test and care. It is a correct model of an interdisciplinary clinic and interprofessional education and learning.

“This software is an extraordinary encounter for our learners and the growth of their interprofessional training,” stated Dr. Rozdolski. “Dental pupils and professional medical pupils are doing work aspect-by-facet as part of the patient’s health and fitness treatment group in order to produce coordinated and thorough treatment to the people of our group.”

Care will be delivered by a pre-clinical and medical student pair in both equally settings. Roxanna Nahvi, M.D./Ph.D. candidate Class of 2023, and Benjamin Yee, TCDM Course of 2021, are spearheading the student initiative and they are in superior firm with the a lot more than 100 students each and every from NYMC and TCDM who applied to volunteer at La Casita. In addition to scientific working experience, college student volunteers will also get useful operational and administration working experience.

“It has been actually awesome to see La Casita evolve during my 4 years as part of its student leadership,” Ms. Nahvi claimed. “My hope is that this clinic can make a distinction in our community in its possess small way.”

When the significant pool of volunteers may not all get the chance for a medical encounter, there are lots of other possibilities for them. Affected individual educators will present general health facts on subjects this kind of as nutrition, diabetes, bronchial asthma, gum disease, oral most cancers and smoking cigarettes cessation. The co-locale of the Loved ones Wellbeing Center and Touro Dental Overall health exemplifies the correlation concerning oral well being and systemic well being which will also be a pillar of the affected individual education.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has obviously exposed wounds in our health and fitness care procedure and the unmet wellbeing requirements of New Yorkers,” stated Jerry L. Nadler, M.D., Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and professor of medicine and pharmacology. “The clinic also represents a excellent chance for inter-specialist collaboration and education with each the health care and dental college students working with each other in a person placing for a frequent trigger to strengthen people’s wellbeing.”

A group source team will help clients with sources for dietary foodstuff, medicine and social services, though college student volunteers will also get the job done on neighborhood outreach to recruit sufferers by partnering with neighborhood organizations and properties of worship. One Spanish-talking volunteer will be out there at all of the clinic dates and other language interpreters will be additional in the future.

La Casita will supply examinations and laboratory screening at no price to people and will enable them use for cost-free or lowered-payment prescription drugs, innovative diagnostic screening and referrals for specialty treatment if essential. Abide by up appointments will be made for sufferers with the very same student volunteers to supply continuity of care, create have faith in and a establish a client/service provider connection.

La Casita will work less than rigid COVID-19 protocols together with decreased potential, screening methods, use of private protecting equipment and enhanced cleaning procedures. To validate eligibility and agenda an appointment, sufferers may well connect with La Casita de la Salud at (845) 519-7119 or Touro Dental Overall health at (914) 594-2700.