UNMC will host the 2018 annual national conference of the Society of Student-Run Free Clinics Feb. 24-25 at the Sorrell Center. More than 300 attendees from across the U.S. are scheduled to attend.
Students and faculty involved in the SHARING Clinic from the colleges of medicine, allied health professions, public health, pharmacy and nursing will serve as hosts for the interprofessional conference, which presents separate tracks for students and faculty. The conference will consist of workshops, poster presentations, and oral presentations where students and faculty get an opportunity to present their clinic models with student-run free clinics from various institutions.
“The conference is essentially one large think tank where students from across the nation can come and brainstorm new ideas, or exchange existing ideas that they have already implemented in their respective clinics,” said Spencer Moore, a third-year pharmacy student and co-chair of the UNMC Student SHARING Board.
Wayne Mathews, associate professor and director of research for the physician assistant education program, and a member of the SHARING board, said student-run clinics are invaluable – both for the community, and the students themselves.
“Besides giving an experience and training in providing health care to the marginalized and economically disadvantaged, it provides immersion in teamwork for interprofessional education,” he said.
It would have been great to incorporate the Clinical MSW students since mental health care is so hard to obtain and local agency referrals could be helpful.