Efforts to provide medical care for underserved populations has taken students from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry to the streets to serve the homeless in Rochester.
More than 60 students from the medical school volunteer on a rotating basis to travel around Rochester during the evening hours to care for the area’s homeless, said Adrienne Morgan, senior director for the medical school’s Center for Advocacy, Community Health, Education and Diversity. At least once a week, three to four students and an attending physician travel throughout the city using a van that students raised money for and purchased two years ago. They treat everything from frostbite to such chronic conditions as diabetes and hypertension, Morgan said.
Caring for homeless individuals has given Stephen Hassig, a second-year medical student and MBA candidate at the Simon Business School, a fresh perspective on the local homeless situation as well as made him feel renewed gratitude for his own blessings.
“This opportunity also challenged me to put myself in uncomfortable situations with the ultimate goal of helping my fellow man. How could I turn that down?” he added.
