Chelsey Jansen, a clinical laboratory science (CLS) student, attended the Society of Student-Run Free Clinics 2011 International Conference to present, “A Day in the Life of a GOODLIFE Patient.” GOODLIFE Clinic is a SHARING Clinic dedicated to diabetic patients in the Omaha area. Chelsey is a SHARING Clinic Student Board Member and volunteer. She presented with Alexandra Brugler, a College of Medicine student and volunteer at the GOODLIFE Clinic.
The conference, “Student-Run Clinics across the Continuum of Care,” was held in conjunction with the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine on January 22, 2011 in Houston, Texas. Chelsey was the only CLS student in attendance and sparked the interest of the other student-run multi-disciplinary clinics to include the clinical laboratory science students in their interdisciplinary approach.
Following is an excerpt from Chelsey and Alex’s abstract:
Our presentation is important because a student-run diabetes clinic that includes an interdisciplinary team is very unique. It is not just that multiple disciplines are available at the clinic, but they are all encouraged to work together to provide patient care to the underserved and un-insured population of North Omaha. Additionally, the epidemic of diabetes, which is especially prevalent in underserved populations, makes GOODLIFE, and clinics like it, a necessity. We have a very unique approach to patient care at GOODLIFE and hope to help other institutions design their own problem-focused interdisciplinary student- run clinics.
The SHARING student-run clinics at UNMC incorporate CLS students in their multi-disciplinary approach and model the vision of the future “health care team.” The clinics focus on each health profession’s scope of practice. The CLS student volunteers offer their expertise and knowledge of laboratory testing to the other health care professionals and patients.