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Service Organizations

AAD Good Skin Knowledge Youth Education Program

Founded in fall 2024, the goal is to teach young people the facts about common skin, hair, and nail conditions. Misunderstanding can lead to teasing and bullying, which is associated with anxiety and depression. These lessons teach children important information about skin health and help build self-confidence about their skin.

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Agape Dermatology Clinic

The Agape Student-Run Free Clinic is run by UT Southwestern medical students under the guidance of Agape Clinic leadership in East Dallas. Our mission is to provide free-of-cost, quality medical care to underserved populations in Dallas while concurrently providing an educational opportunity for budding healthcare professionals. We have medical, social work, pharmacy, and dietetics students working under the guidance of licensed providers to provide holistic healthcare to our patients. We have one pediatrics and one family medicine night every month. We generally see about 3-4 patients every clinic night to allow ample time for teaching and seeing the patients.

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Agape Multidisciplinary Clinic

Agape Multidisciplinary Clinic is a student-run free clinic facilitated by UT Southwestern medical students under the guidance of Agape Clinic leadership in East Dallas. Our mission is to provide free-of-cost, quality primary care to underserved populations in Dallas while concurrently providing an educational opportunity for budding healthcare professionals. We have medical, social work, pharmacy, and dietetic students working under the guidance of licensed providers to provide holistic healthcare to our patients. Our interprofessional team collaborates to host one pediatric and one family medicine clinic night every month.

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Agape Musculoskeletal Specialty Clinic

Agape Musculoskeletal Clinic is a student-run clinic that provides free musculoskeletal specialty care for underserved patients once a month at the Agape Clinic in east Dallas. Our team includes musculoskeletal focused physicians and residents from various specialties, medical student volunteers, and translators.

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Artist on Call

Founded in fall 2024, our organization is dedicated to illuminating the lived experiences of palliative care patients through the transformative power of art. By creating and sharing art together, we honor their stories, bring light to their journeys, and offer the healing gift of creativity. We also provide a nurturing space for medical students to explore and express their creative side, fostering a deeper connection between art and medicine. Through this collaboration, we aim to enrich the lives of patients, inspire compassion, and cultivate a profound appreciation for the human experience.

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ArtReach

Founded in summer 2021, ArtReach is a service organization dedicated to art-based outreach with vulnerable populations in community and healthcare settings. Our primary community partner is the Dallas County Juvenile Department (DCJD) through which we coordinate art activities with at-risk youth in juvenile detention at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center. We aim to expand our scope to connect with other justice-involved populations, families experiencing homelessness, foster youth, pediatric patients, and many others in the future. At our core, we strive to cultivate positive experiences for those we serve and our student volunteers by harnessing art as an outlet for joy, personal growth, and powerful human connection.

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Best Buddies

Founded in summer 2024, Best Buddies is an international program that aims to connect individuals with developmental disabilities with peers in the community to foster friendships and offer support. The mission of UT Southwestern Best Buddies is to connect UT Southwestern students, residents, and staff with community members with developmental disabilities to foster relationships and experiences.

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Brother Bill's Helping Hands Student-Run Free Clinic

Founded in spring 2021, our clinic will provide free of cost preventative and primary care services to underserved and socioeconomically disadvantaged adults in the Dallas Fort Worth Community through a student run free clinic. In addition, we will provide preventive services such as vaccine and diabetes education to empower patients to take control of their own health. We also provide women’s health services, specifically pap smears and annual check-ups.

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Brown Bag Initiative

The Brown Bag Initiative is an organization created with the purpose of preparing and distributing brown bags full of helpful toiletries to the Dallas homeless population. Our goal is to serve the homeless population's immediate needs as they begin the process of rehabilitation and assimilation into larger society. We collect toiletries in donation boxes throughout the year, and donate assembled brown bags to Union Gospel Mission shelters.

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Children’s Wellness Interest Group

Founded in Fall of 2023, the Children’s Wellness Interest Group is an organization dedicated to improving the life of the pediatric population and their families throughout their treatment or stay at a healthcare establishment. In collaboration with various clinics and shelters in Dallas, we will provide consistent volunteering opportunities for medical students to support and contribute to making a child’s time undergoing treatment more pleasant. We aim to provide students with a speaker series comprised of child healthcare specialists to increase awareness on what goes into a child’s care outside medical treatment.

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Conversational Spanish in Medicine

Founded in spring 2024, Conversational Spanish in Medicine aims to provide free, accessible, and flexible practice conversing in Spanish in a safe and judgement-free zone. Advanced Spanish-speaking medical students will obtain volunteer hours to practice with medical students who wish to grow in their Spanish-speaking confidence and skills. Methods comprise a “buddy system” pairing beginners with advanced speakers, “office-hour”-style drop-in sessions (remote and in person), dedicated “simulation days” of patient encounters to prepare for clinics, training for Spanish interpreter certification, and social events to encourage Spanish practice.

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Dallas Children's Advocacy Group

Founded in fall 2017, DCAG's main objective is to work with the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center (DCAC) in order to help children who have faced physical and sexual abuse in the DFW area. Through our affiliation with the Referral and Evaluation of At Risk Children – Children's Health (REACH) clinic at Children's Medical Center we hope to provide early exposure to future physicians to the medical, legal, and psychological aspects of child abuse and ample opportunities for volunteering, shadowing, and research.

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DASH in Stem

Founded in spring 2023, DASH is committed to destigmatizing disabilities in science. This organization will seek to celebrate and encourage those with disabilities in STEM as well as the heroes who support people with disabilities in achieving their scientific career goals, those actively pursuing their science with disabilities, and those interest e in one day pursuing a scientific career because science needs people who think differently!

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DFW Hep. B Free Project/APAMSA

The chapter at UTSW aims to foster community among medical students with a commitment to addressing the unique health needs of Asian/Pacific Islander communities – namely, chronic Hepatitis B and C, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. We provide free screenings and linkage to care to at-risk communities in the DFW metroplex, including immigrant and refugee populations from countries in which these conditions are endemic, as well as unhoused populations. We also provide education to reduce the stigma associated among these diagnoses.

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Free Clinic Committee

Founded in fall 2015, the Free Clinics Committee (FCC) is composed of representatives from all UT Southwestern Student-Run Free Clinics (SRFCs). The goal of the FCC is to facilitate communication and collaboration between all student-run free clinics by sharing logistic resources, developing service project ideas, and fostering leadership skills. Some of the main events that the FCC promotes are the spring and fall SRFC Summits, the SRFC enrichment elective, and the SRFC application and recruitment process.

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Future Doctors Pathway Program

The program is dedicated to bringing health care professionals to middle and high school students who come from backgrounds that are underrepresented in medicine (including Black, Hispanic, Latino and Native American). We hope to inspire and support the next generation of physicians by providing mentorship and guidance in and out of the classroom. We strive to improve diversity in medicine one student at a time.

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Get Up, Meet Up, and Go – GMG

The focus of this organization will be serving residents in assisted living facilities by providing structured exercise classes, social events, and companionship. This will be achieved by recruiting UTSW students to hold classes and mini-interviews at assisted living homes weekly and according to assisted living facility protocols. These volunteering opportunities will entail carrying oneself in a role-model like manner as well as working with available staff to ensure a safe and enjoyable session. High regard should be held towards the uniqueness of each resident, and their capabilities, their potential for growth, and any special needs/differences that a resident may have.

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Giving a Boost

Founded in summer 2023, Giving a Boost (GAB) is a volunteer-driven organization established to support pre-medical students lacking access to mentors in medicine. Comprised of current medical students, our goal is to provide free personalized mentorship to students from all backgrounds, especially to disadvantaged applicants such as underrepresented minorities, LGBTQIA+, first-generation, low SES, or non-traditional students. By offering guidance on medical school applications free of cost, we aim to alleviate the financial burden and reduce disparities in the application process. While we cannot assure that our services will guarantee acceptance into medical school, we aim to reduce the stress of applications for our mentees, and we volunteer our time to provide the guidance that we ourselves wished for during this journey.

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Habitat for Humanity

Founded in fall 2021, HFH is a student-run organization that works with local Habitat chapters to provide affordable housing for the unhoused of the DFW area. We make two trips a semester to home build sites, where we work alongside the future homeowners in building their homes.

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Hats for the Homeless

Founded fall 2023, Hats for the Homeless aims to provide sun protection and headwear for members of the Dallas community who lack access. We rely on donations and drives to provide sun protection to patients at UTSW affiliated clinics and hospitals.

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Healing Hands for Guatemala

Spring Break service trip to Antigua – We provide health care to rural communities in Guatemala during spring break in collaboration with a physician based in Antigua, Guatemala.

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Health Career Collaborative

HCC engages high school students in project-based learning, with a focus on science and health care related issues, to encourage students to graduate from high school (current graduation rates at partner high schools at 50-60%), to model a diverse range of health-related career pathways, and to empower students to identify the most pressing health needs in their community and engage students in community-based health promotion activities.

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Healthy Living

The Healthy Living Initiative represents a collaborative endeavor led by students from UTSW with the aim of imparting valuable knowledge about healthy behaviors to young individuals. Through engaging presentations, we reach out to middle and high school students across Texas, covering a diverse range of subjects. Our goal is to empower these students with the essential skills to make informed decisions that positively impact on their overall well-being. Our presentation topics encompass crucial areas such as the significance of proper nutrition, the role of sufficient sleep, promoting awareness about mental health, and highlighting the detrimental consequences associated with drug use.

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Hoops for Health

Founded in fall 2023, Medical student volunteers will work with Scottish Rite physicians to examine, assesses, and treat sport-related issues affecting young athletes at sponsored events. They will also work with physicians to assess the overall health and agility of athletes and recommend evidence-based therapies to enhance performance. Students will have the opportunity to practice their physical exam and history-taking skills under the supervision of licensed professionals in a real-time environment. Volunteers will work one on one with world-renowned faculty and have the opportunity to network during these events.

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Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP)

Founded in fall 2020, our goal is to help better equip medical students to effectively care for older adults while also directly improving the quality of care for our hospitalized patients. Medical Students HELP will implement portions of the national Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) protocols for delirium prevention. Our direct volunteer interventions will help contribute to reduced cognitive and physical decline, as well as improve overall wellbeing of hospitalized elderly adults. Volunteers will provide social companionship, orientation, cognitive stimulation, feeding assistance, and encouragement of oral fluid repletion. We seek to expand other aspects of the HELP program, contribute to quality improvement, and host interactive student workshops as our volunteer team grows.

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Kids to the Rescue

Founded in fall 2021, Kids to the Rescue is an organization founded on the principle that by teaching our children the basics of First Aid, we are making our communities a safer place. As members of the UT Southwestern Community, we have seen firsthand how even the most basic medical knowledge can be lifesaving. Therefore, the more people who know basic first aid, therefore people who can be helped. By educating the next generation, we then are creating a future generation of Dallas County residents who are better prepared to take care of themselves, their peers, and their communities.

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Last Writers

Last Writers trains and empowers students in the sharing and memorializing of life through memoir building for hospice patients in the DFW area.

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Learn4Free

Long gone are the days of learning in a physical classroom for many students. Although convenient, distance learning poses unique challenges for intrinsically bright students that may make it difficult to stay motivated and on track to appropriately master class material. Founded in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn4Free is a tutoring service that matches volunteer tutors with underprivileged middle school and high school students. The organization was founded with a vision that a student's academic success should not be a product of socioeconomic status but rather that of hard work and individual talent. Therefore, tutoring is completely free of charge.

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Lumin Education Project

Founded in fall 2018, the purpose of Lumin Education service organization is to teach children at Lumin Montessori schools fitness and nutrition. The goal is to facilitate healthy habits and improve long-term health.

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Mano a Mano: Dominican Republic Service Trip

Mano a Mano (Hand in Hand) is a student organization dedicated to improving the health care of communities in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We send students on a spring break mission trip with our host organization, Foundation for Peace. Working in mobile clinics, students examine and present patients to supervising physicians. The students enhance their skills of history taking, SOAP note style presentations, and performing full physicals. They also get a chance to experience the ways of a culture different from ours and are exposed to medical conditions they might not have the opportunity to encounter in the United States. During the year, the organization raises funds for the trip by hosting the Mr. and Ms. UT Southwestern Pageant.

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Mental Health Matters: An Educational Initiative for Dallas Youth (MHM)

The mission of MHM is to improve the mental health of underserved youth in the Dallas area through partnering with local organizations to implement a curriculum focusing on mental health education, coping skills, and resiliency. With our current partner, Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation, we plan to host monthly engaging, interactive sessions with their students during the school semester. We hope to form relationships with additional community partners to reach as many children in DFW as possible.

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The Monday Clinic

The mission of The Monday Clinic is to provide high-quality, free medical care to the underserved population of North Dallas regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or ability to pay; to provide an interactive learning environment for medical students, thereby allowing them to develop clinical, organizational, and leadership skills; to instill in students a lifelong commitment of service to the community and others in need; and to introduce medical students to the needs of the uninsured.

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Musicians on Call

The mission of Musicians On Call is to provide a channel for musicians/singers to use their artistic talents to improve the hospital experience for patients and families in the Dallas area. Coordinating large-group events for students to perform can be difficult with the hustle and bustle of a full-time student schedule. As such, Musicians On Call provides a streamlined sign-up process for students to find time in their individualized schedule that they can perform in the common space at hospitals for waiting patients and their families.

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National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI On Campus is a student-led, student-run chapter of this national mental health organization that aims to raise mental health awareness with fairs, walks, activities, candlelit vigils and more! Educate the campus with presentations, guest speakers and student panels. Advocate for improved mental health services and policies on campus. Support peers with signature NAMI programs from NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates (NSONAs). As a member of UTSW’s NAMI On Campus, you will belong to the largest grassroots mental health organization in America.

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No One Dies Alone

Re-established in spring 2024, No One Dies Alone (NODA) is an organization that allows medical students at UTSW to provide companionship to Parkland patients who are receiving end-of-life care and lack the comfort of family and loved ones by their side. This is a great way to make a profound difference in the lives of patients while developing essential communication and bedside manner skills that will benefit your future medical career.

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Once Upon a Tune

Founded in summer 2018, Once Upon a Tune is a service orientated, student-run organization made up of UT Southwestern students whose mission is to bring some fun and joy into the lives of sick children in local hospitals. We sing Disney songs in playrooms to put a smile on their faces. We hope to transport the children to a magical place to help them forget they are in the hospital.

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Patient Accompaniment Initiative (PAI)

Patient Accompaniment Initiative provides in-hospital visits to patients identified by the Palliative Care service. Students from the UT Southwestern Medical School and School of Health Professions participate in bedside visits. PAI currently serves patients at Parkland Memorial Hospital. These visits are designed to provide psychosocial support to patients with prolonged hospitalization or other risk factors. Visits are focused on developing a social bond with patients via conversation, reading, or shared activities such as board games, music, and memory-making projects. PAI also connects students who wish to assist with Art and Legacy projects or Bereavement Calls through the Palliative Care and Chaplain's Office respectively.

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Patient Navigator Program (PNP) for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness

Founded in summer 2020, PNP is an interdisciplinary service organization providing individualized social support to patients experiencing homelessness. Student teams follow a caseload of patients from Center of Hope throughout the year, whom they will assist in accessing care and navigating the local health care system long-term. Students also offer short-term assistance to patients who receive referrals from Calvert Place, and ensure that these patients are linked into their follow-up care. In order to join the PNP team, students must complete the prerequisite enrichment elective course Patient Navigation for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness.

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Paul Quinn Primary Care Project (PQP)

Founded in spring 2021 to improve the health and well-being of students attending Paul Quinn College. Our Mission is to implement a series of educational sessions on healthcare and access to healthcare topics. We also hope to identify health care needs of students through a need's assessment survey.

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Pediatric Patient Advocacy Program

PPAP aims to uplift immigrant parents as they navigate the US and Texas healthcare systems for their children. On a monthly basis, medical students visit Dallas community centers to strengthen advocacy strategies through educational and role-playing materials.

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Project Momentum

We aim to increase access to a healthy life for justice-involved youth in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex through providing health education sessions and health navigation resources, as well as fostering a greater sense of community and support among adolescents who share experiences of being involved with the justice system.

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Reach

Founded fall 2022 the goal of our organization is to serve kids who were disproportionately affected socially and academically by COVID, for example, the refugee and shelter populations in Dallas. We hope to lead mentorship activities based on the needs of the organizations that we will partner with. We hope to use our experiences as an adult education intern at the International Rescue Committee, UGM manager, and ESL volunteer to contribute to this organization.

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Refuge Guatemala

Founded in summer 2012, Refuge Guatemala is a student organization dedicated to providing health care to the population of rural Guatemala that would otherwise find it inaccessible or unaffordable. The organization sends a team of students and faculty on a spring break trip to work in a small, understaffed Guatemalan hospital. The team works along with hospital staff to perform surgeries and provide care in a clinical setting to the local indigent population. In addition to receiving invaluable medical experience and exposure to the local Hispanic and Mayan cultures, participating students hopefully have their eyes opened to the joys of international medical service.

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Refugee Health Interest Group (RHIG)

The Refugee Health Interest Group was founded in 2023 to serve as a resource for students to become actively involved in furthering community service efforts for refugees, asylum seekers, and other marginalized immigrant communities in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. By forming partnerships with local refugee resettlement agencies, RHIG aims to directly work for this community by engaging in volunteer service. Lastly, RHIG hopes to establish a firm base of future health professionals who are aware of the challenges marginalized communities face in accessing healthcare and are motivated to improve health equity for refugee populations.

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Refugee Initiative for Screenings and Education (RISE)

Founded in the summer of 2023, RISE aims to provide support to refugees and unhoused community members by providing health screenings, educational sessions, and healthcare navigation to clients at Ma'ruf, a local non-profit.

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Smoking Cessation Clinic at UGM

UGM Smoking Cessation Clinic is a weekly volunteer opportunity at UGM Calvert Place (men's shelter) and/or Center of Hope (women's shelter) that involves leading health-topic discussions, 1:1 cessation coaching, and nicotine replacement distribution for clients. Our organization is dedicated to helping members of transient community learn about health consequences of smoking and to helping interested clients reduce or quit smoking.

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Southwestern Alleviating Radiation Therapy

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Southwestern Art

Founded in summer 2022, through this organization, medical and health professions students will partner with the pediatric radiation oncology department at Children’s Health to paint radiotherapy masks for children undergoing radiation therapy to look like their favorite superhero, Disney character, or whatever cartoon character they want! The primary goal is to transform what is often a scary and traumatic experience for children into something less stressful.

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Southwestern Bloom Buddies

Founded in spring 2024, the Southwestern Bloom Buddies, our mission is to uplift and unite our community through the beauty of floral wreath design. We are committed to nurturing creativity and compassion among our students by teaching them the art of wreath-making. Through this education, we empower our students to create heartfelt floral wreaths, which we then joyfully donate to bring comfort and cheer to the lives of the elderly and the sick. With each wreath, we aim to spread love, kindness, and a sense of connection, making a tangible difference in the lives of those in need.

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Southwestern Green Club

Founded in spring 2024, the Southwestern Green Club is dedicated to preserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex through volunteer-driven park cleanups and conservation efforts. Our mission is to foster environmental stewardship and awareness among community members. Through collaborative action, we aim to create a greener, cleaner, and more vibrant environment for all who call DFW home.

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Southwestern Wish Granters

Founded in summer 2024, our mission is to bring joy and hope to children facing critical illnesses by empowering volunteers to discover and deliver life-changing wishes. Through compassionate teamwork and meaningful connections, we strive to make every child's dream a reality, creating lasting moments of happiness and resilience for them and their families.

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Student Patient Advocates for the Rights of our Communities (SPARC)

Founded in spring 2017, the purpose of this student group is to provide a place for students to learn more about and discuss issues affecting patient populations, helping them to become better advocates, and empowering them to take action in shaping a better future for our community.

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TimeSlips

Founded in at UT Southwestern Spring 2022, TimeSlips is global non-profit created to approach dementia care with a non-pharmacological approach using creative storytelling, encouraging participants to utilize their imagination rather than focusing on their inability to remember chronologically. Alongside the primary mission statement of our organization, our chapter aims to help medical students feel more comfortable interacting with and treating patients of dementia in addition to allowing them to gain exposure in humanistic geriatric care. TimeSlips will provide twice monthly volunteer opportunities for medical students to partake in these storytelling activities with dementia patients as well as interact with their physicians and health care teams to partake in hands-on care delivery.

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UGM Clinics – Calvert Place and The Center of Hope

Started as a student organization in fall 2013 to provide services for the Union Gospel Mission (UGM), these clinics serve the homeless by treating them at one of the three free weekly medical clinics located at Calvert Place (men's shelter) and the Center of Hope (women's and children's shelter). Medical students, residents, Physician Assistant students, and other volunteers work together to accomplish this goal.

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United to Serve

United to Serve

Each year, UT Southwestern holds a health fair benefiting students and their families in the surrounding community. This United to Serve event, which has been held at T.J. Rusk Middle School, is geared toward bringing awareness of important medical health issues to the community. Activities include medical health screenings, presentations, and demonstrations about important health issues, fun activities for the kids, and more. The event is conducted as part of the UT System's United to Serve campaign, in which all UT System schools participate in a single day of service.

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Union Gospel Mission

Founded in Fall 2013 as a student initiative, this organization partners with the Union Gospel Mission (UGM) to provide essential medical services to the unhoused community. Volunteers, including medical students, residents, Physician Assistant students, and others, work together to operate three free weekly clinics. These clinics are held at Calvert Place, a men's shelter, and the Center of Hope, which serves women and children. The collective efforts of these dedicated volunteers ensure that those in need receive compassionate care and treatment. We generally see between 5-10 patients every clinic night.

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Walk with a Future Doc

Walk with a (Future) Doc was founded at UT Southwestern summer 2019 and is a student-led walking program focused on increasing physical activity among patients. Each month, we host a free local walk to promote wellness, healthy habits, and communication between patients and physicians in our community. The walks are open to students, faculty, and patients of all ages and abilities. Our goal is to help patient's live healthier lives one step at a time.

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Women's Health Advocates

Founded in fall 2023, the Women's Health Advocates group at UTSW aims to advocate for and educate women in Dallas who are receiving prenatal or postnatal care through UTSW. This includes breastfeeding education, breastfeeding advocacy, and emotional support during prenatal care and beyond.

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