CRxSP

Today was the start of another meaningful journey in my life. A friend in the same class and I signed up to volunteer at a free clinic/pharmacy to help the underserved American population. After waiting for over 2wk, we finally got a call asking us to go in Tuesday morning.

Woke up at 0630am, got dressed, and made myself some delicious breakfast. I decided that today had to be great. My friend picked me up at my place and we drove to the site singing in the car. Well, actually it was just me singing and my friend laughing at me... The sun pierced the clear glass and felt warm on my skin. Pleasant on a cold morning. We drove across the bridge connecting the flanks of the river and there it was - a plain cement office building sitting on a quiet street corner. Eagerly we got out of the car and went on in to find out what lay ahead.

The program was called Community Prescription Support Program (CRxSP) - it is a nonprofit organization that serves the medically uninsured population in Saginaw, Michigan. The staff were amazing. Very friendly and dedicated. CRxSP at our location had only one RN, one pharmacist, and a few social workers. Most are volunteers. The doctor would go in once a week to review charts and adjust medications as needed by the individual patients. You might not think very highly of a small place like that with such a small staff. But they get on average 60 patients a day! DO THE MATH! That is incredible! 60 patients a day makes 1800 patients a month! These 1800 patients would have been paying $2500 a year for prescription with the money they don't have!

This is a pioneer program involving us medical students. We are the first group to be experimented on - and I love it! Our doctor is amazing. He has already retired but volunteers his time to this free clinic/pharmacy every week, brings in medicine and supplies, and reviews patient files to ensure optimal patient care. Today was our first session and we did not get to see patients. But we were thoroughly introduced to the neat little expanding program and managed to go through 8 charts from various patients needing long term prescription. Our doctor made us think, asked us our opinions on the treatment plan, and treated us like colleagues. I felt good. Also felt that I need to study harder! ;)

Next Tuesday we will have our second session. This time it will be in the actual clinic and not the pharmacy. And we will be able to do physical exams on these patients to assess their progress. Tomorrow I have my OBGYN rotation in the hospital and will be doing a pelvic exam on a patient. I hope I will also be able to attend a delivery (although chances are slim).

One thing I know is that today was amazing and I will sleep well tonite! Keep on truckin'!