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Flinders medical students pilot free clinic for homeless men

Andrew IH Phua and Yvonne K Parry
Med J Aust 2019; 211 (7): . || doi: 10.5694/mja2.50231
Published online: 7 October 2019

To the Editor: Student‐run clinics (SRCs) empower students to employ logistics, operational management and clinical skills to provide free or affordable health care to underserved populations. SRCs have the dual benefits of student learning and care for underserved patients and promote health equity, interprofessionalism and student leadership.1,2


  • Flinders University, Adelaide, SA


Correspondence: drewphua@gmail.com

Acknowledgements: 

We thank Tony Roach, Manager at Vinnies Men's Crisis Centre, for his support of the FSRC. We also thank Laalithya Konduru for her instrumental work conceptualising, setting up, liaising with partners, and running the FSRC, without which this project would not have been possible. We also thank the patients, community general practitioners and medical student volunteers who made the FSRC pilot possible.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. Holmqvist M, Courtney C, Meili R, Dick A. Student‐run clinics: opportunities for interprofessional education and increasing social accountability. J Res Interprof Pract Educ 2012; 2: 264–277.
  • 2. Frakes K, Brownies S, Davies L, et al. The sociodemographic and health‐related characteristics of a regional population with chronic disease at an interprofessional student‐assisted clinic in Queensland Capricornia Allied Health Partnership. Aust J Rural Health 2013; 21: 97–104.
  • 3. Buckley E, Vu T, Remedios L. The REACH project: implementing interprofessional practice at Australia's first student‐led clinic. Educ Health (Abingdon) 2014; 27: 93–98.
  • 4. Ko M, Edelstein RA, Heslin KC, et al. Impact of the University of California, Los Angeles/Charles R. Drew University Medical Education Program on medical students’ intentions to practice in underserved areas. Acad Med 2005; 80: 803–808.
  • 5. Stuhlmiller CM, Tolchard B. Developing a student‐led health and wellbeing clinic in an underserved community: collaborative learning, health outcomes and cost savings. BMC Nursing 2015; 14: 32.

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