WHEN:
Saturday, April 16, 9 a.m.

WHERE:
Mercy Primary Care Center, 5555 Connor Ave., Detroit

WHO:
Robert Frank, interim vice dean of faculty affairs in the Wayne State University School of Medicine; Maryjean Schenk, WSU School of Medicine vice dean of education; Kendra Schwartz, interim chair of the WSU Department of Family Medicine; WSU medical students who staff the clinic; patients who utilize clinic services.

WHY:
To mark the formal opening of the free clinic serving the uninsured and underinsured of Detroit.

OPPORTUNITIES:
There will be brief remarks and a ribbon cutting. Media will have the opportunity to interview students staffing the clinic, as well as patients. Television media will be allowed to film medical students interacting with patients inside the clinic exam rooms.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Philip Van Hulle, WSU School of Medicine information officer, (313) 577-6943
David Altschler, student and clinic co-director, (313) 407-0307

BACKGROUND:
The Robert R. Frank Student Run Free Clinic was established by WSU School of Medicine students. The students named the clinic for longtime executive vice dean and now Interim Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs Robert Frank, M.D., in recognition of his decades of community involvement, including assuming responsibility for a student-run free clinic in the Jeffries Housing Project in 1968.

In 2010, medical students negotiated with directors of the Mercy Primary Care Center free clinic, located at 5555 Connor Ave., to open one Saturday a month, outside the normal operating hours of the Mercy staff. The clinic is now open two Saturdays each month.

When the clinic is open, four care teams are available. Each team consists of either one first- and one fourth-year student, or one second- and one third-year student. Clinic co-directors oversee the workflow, and School of Medicine physicians help evaluate and treat patients.

The free clinic provides initial physical exams and workups, followed by regular follow-up visits to monitor any health issues discovered by the student doctors. Many of the patients suffer from asthma, diabetes, hypertension and pain from inflammation. The WSU students who run the clinic have also partnered with a local pharmacy to offer patients the lowest possible cost on any necessary medications.