Access programs provide patient care health service to disadvantaged populations.
20/20’s mission is to provide free vision services to underserved populations. Student volunteers will apply their clinical and non-clinical skills to screen adults and children for eye diseases, such as glaucoma, cataracts, amblyopia, and strabismus.
The CDPH vaccination and testing team allows volunteers to sign up for the dates and sites they are interested in volunteering with. Sites provide COVID testing and/or vaccinations and volunteers are active participants in both activities while working closely with the CDPH nursing and social work team. Vaccines and testing are offered for additional public health concerns as well, such as monkey pox.
The Community Health Clinic is a non-profit volunteer organization providing free preventive and primary health care services to members of the community who cannot afford or are ineligible for medical insurance. The clinic offers a large range of services including routine physicals, immunization programs, and a full laboratory and pharmacy. Additionally, CHC is host to several patient education classes and over 20 different specialty clinics, allowing CHC to provide more comprehensive and well-rounded care.
CURE stands for Center for the Underserved at Rush ENT. CURE’s goal is to provide continuous and comprehensive otolaryngology healthcare to the residents of Chicago’s homeless shelters through in-person and telemedicine visits. The framework of these visits is as follows: students will use a patient-privacy protected iPad who will facilitate the visit between residents of the shelter and a Rush otolaryngologist. Should a patient require a follow up visit or a more in-depth treatment, round-trip transportation will be arranged by the shelter so that patients can see an audiologist for hearing loss. Although driven by its virtual nature, the model includes periodic in-person visits at the shelter by a physician. Currently, we are holding these clinics once per week at Rush, alternating between in person and telemedicine visits every other week.
This clinic is housed in the Haymarket Center, 932 West Washington on Chicago’s Near West Side and is a bi-monthly clinic held on Wednesdays between 5 -7pm that provides acute care to individuals in the substance rehabilitation program. Rush students and clinicians (physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant) provide focused physicals, basic treatments, health education, and referrals. Select over the counter and prescription medications are given free of charge.
The Medical Mobile Van works closely with Chicago Recovery Alliance (CRA) to help provide harm reduction supplies and medical services to the community. MMV volunteers are currently involved in the packing of harm reduction supplies/kits that the CRA distributes through the warehouse and mobile van. The MMV RCSIP is in an exciting time of transition post COVID as the steerers work to develop a program that would allow volunteers to provide both medical care and harm reduction supplies to the community. Stay tuned to updates on different volunteer opportunities that may become available throughout the year.
The Rush Human Rights Program seeks to advocate for and provide patient care and support to the immigrant, refugee, and undocumented patient populations in Chicago. RHRP collaborates with community partners to give students an opportunity to interact with and provide direct patient care to these patient populations. Advocacy efforts include working with Rush curriculum heads to educate future healthcare providers about the healthcare barriers and needs of these communities and empower active participation to address these disparities.
Rush Street Medicine (RSM) is a partnership with The Night Ministry, a local nonprofit that provides housing, health care, and social services to adults and youth who struggle with homelessness and poverty. The purpose of RSM is to deliver free acute healthcare (e.g. wound care, antibiotics, prescription medications), make referrals to substance use treatment programs, offer harm reduction initiatives, and provide hospitality items to individuals in need by bringing care to encampments via a mobile medical van which operates across the West Side.