2009 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship
for Community Service
Scholarship Finalist
Elizabeth Joyce Bhoj
UT Southwestern Medical School
3rd Year
Elizabeth's Essay on Community Service
I began working at the North Dallas Shared Ministries Free Medical Clinic for the Working Poor (NDSMFMCWP!) in 2002 while I was a first-year medical student. The clinic treats uninsured patients from North Dallas with acute minor illnesses at no cost using a completely volunteer staff. During my first two years of medical school I worked at the clinic nearly every week, helping where I was most needed: translating, taking patient vitals and histories, updating patient charts, performing basic in-house tests, and assisting with pelvic exams. These experiences were by far the most rewarding aspect of my pre-clinical years, and although I recruited about a half-dozen other students who also volunteered intermittently, I always hoped that there would be a way to involve a greater number of my classmates in a more profound way. Through the clinic, I was able to assist in providing safety to a victim of domestic violence, curing children tortured by chronic scabies infections, diagnosing long-standing symptomatic diabetes, and immunizing hundreds of children. This on-the-job training in cultural competency and awareness of the social barriers to receiving medical care will positively influence my interactions with patients for the rest of my career.
I remained an active volunteer at the clinic even during my graduate school training, and in early 2006 I heard an exciting rumor - some first-year students were interested in starting a medical student clinic. I met with these eight students, and we began plans for a clinic that would allow medical students to offer their interest and expertise to those without insurance, and allow the patients to teach the students about medicine and the special needs of marginalized populations. From my years of working at the NDSM clinic I knew that it had the resources and expertise we needed, while they required additional manpower to stay open more than three nights a week. Within a matter of months, and many brain-storming sessions later, “The Monday Clinic” opened to both students and patients.
As one of the co-founders and original managers of the clinic, I was able to participate in many different aspects of building the clinic. Two of our clinic’s biggest challenges have been recruiting new volunteer physicians and publicizing our services to the community. Through speaking at grand rounds and individual meetings and designing and distributing flyers I was able to convince two additional faculty members to join, which nearly doubled our physician roster. One of my favorite tasks outside of the clinic has been planning and running booths at local libraries, churches, and other community events. These have been beneficial in many ways; we assist the community through blood pressure and diabetes screenings, students have additional opportunities to interact with underserved populations, we are able to offer information about low-cost health resources including our clinic, and we provide support staff for organizations we collaborate with, such as Care Van immunizations. Additionally, because of my long-standing relationship with NDSM I have also been the official liaison between the organization and our student group. In this role I attended monthly meetings to enhance communication, and disseminated information about policy changes, up-coming events, or issues with the clinic.
Since I was in graduate school during this time, I also had the unique opportunity to remain a manger for the first two years of the clinic. This allowed me to help with the transition to the first new group of managers in addition to performing the regular duties of running the clinic twice a month. With another manager, I was responsible for all aspects of the clinic, which meant juggling the training of dozens of student volunteers, the triaging of patients, the coordination patient care, and ensuring that everyone had their needs met by the end of the evening. We have since passed on leadership to the third group of managers, and the clinic is still serving the students and patients each week.
As a founder of a volunteer organization I understand how vital it is to support other organizations on campus. During my first year of medical school I tutored children through a local “welfare to work” after-school program. Every student came from a one-parent home and there was usually no one at home to help with homework, so I would spend an hour each week helping with arithmetic, reading, and geography. During one geography session with a fourth grader, I mentioned to the student that I was Irish, and pointed out Ireland on the map. His eyes got as big as saucers and he suddenly became very shy, then in a small voice he said, “Wow, I’ve never meet anyone Irish before, did you know Saddam Hussein?” While trying not to laugh out loud I again took out the map and, while explaining the difference, we found both Ireland and Iraq. Sadly, the project was discontinued after a year, but I have maintained my commitment to the education of the children by buying dozens of used children’s books each year or so, getting help wrapping them from classmates, and sneaking them into the program room as an anonymous surprise for the children.
I have also participated in many Graduate Student Organization volunteer events, including Habitat for Humanity, Soupman’s Soup Kitchen, and staffing blood drives. Through multiple medical school organizations I have volunteered as a translator and vision screener at Viva Dallas, as a speaker on the dangers of smoking to middle school students, and as an educator at United to Serve. I am proud of the many volunteer organizations I have worked with at UTSW, but it is the lasting impact of working the last six years at NDSM and helping found and nurture The Monday Clinic from which I take the most satisfaction. Through these organizations I have personally helped treat hundreds of patients and train dozens of students, but more importantly, the clinic is now poised to impact the lives of thousands.
