A Wayne State University collaborative program providing basic medical care to the homeless was honored at WSU's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute luncheon, held Jan. 15 at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit.
The Community Homeless Interprofessional Program Clinic at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit received the 2016 Dr. Arthur L. Johnson Community Leadership Award from Wayne State's Office of Government and Community Affairs. The award is named for the late civil rights leader and Wayne State administrator, and honors individuals and organizations whose contributions positively affect the community.
"This collaboration between the Cathedral of St. Paul, the School of Medicine, College of Pharmacy and the School of Social Work has been a fertile ground for interdisciplinary practice for our students," said Jennifer Mendez, Ph.D., director of Co-Curricular Programs at the School of Medicine and a program supervisor. "The award recognizes our faculty and students' time commitment to serve the homeless of Detroit."
The clinic, founded in March 2014, provides care for the homeless the third Sunday of every month through a partnership with the church and WSU second-year medical students, second-year pharmacy students and social work students. The School of Medicine Class of 2018's Tony Lin is one of the clinic's two medical student coordinators.
"The CHIP clinic provides a platform for students to learn from each other, and from the population. This is a mutually beneficial relationship," Lin said.
Commonly encountered health conditions include hypertension, diabetes, respiratory disease, seizure disorders, mental health issues and substance abuse disorders. About 120 people received services in the previous year through the clinic, according to the organization. Students from the three health professions evaluate and serve the homeless, offering basic medical and pharmacy evaluation and health and community resource education. CHIP is further supported by the Wayne State Interprofessional student organization, whose leaders include second-year medical students Kathleen Turner, Ismail Gregory and Lin.
Faculty and staff volunteers include physicians Gregory Zemenick, M.D. '71, and Joel Appel, M.D.; Department of Pharmacy Practice Assistant Professor Justine Gortney, Pharm.D., B.C.P.S., and Associate Professors Mary Beth O'Connell, Pharm.D., and Paul Kilgore, M.D., M.P.H.; Master of Public Administration student Dominique Blanks; School of Social Work Assistant Professor Cassandra Bowers, Ph.D., who supervises the social work students; and Henry Ford Health System senior research associate Winnie Cheung, who performs clinical triage.
Established in the late 1990s, Wayne State's Martin Luther King Jr. tribute brings together the metropolitan Detroit community to celebrate and honor the life and legacy of King, and has featured prominent civil rights leaders and advocates. The 2016 keynote speaker was Van Jones. Jones, co-host of CNN's "Crossfire" and a network contributor, is president and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream, a platform for people-driven innovations to help fix the U.S. economy, and author of two New York Times bestselling books. Jones was the green jobs advisor to the White House in 2009, helping run the interagency process that oversaw $80 billion in green energy recovery spending.