热点大瓜

Two evenings a week, a team of students from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo goes out into the community to sites where homeless people are known to gather. Accompanied by medical professionals, including faculty physicians from UB, as well as a social worker, they talk to people, inquire about their health and provide free, on-the-spot medical treatment.

Their work is part of an organized effort known as UB HEALS. The name stands for Homeless health, Education, Awareness and Leadership in Street medicine. The goal is to care for patients’ acute needs and to reconnect them to the health care system. In the process, the medical students who participate gain hands-on experience in their future profession, as well as a better understanding of the health impact that poverty and homelessness have in their community.

The “street medicine” these volunteers provide is basic but important, and often urgently needed. Just as critical can be the connections they make as they reach out to people, listen to their needs, build trust and steer them toward clinics, housing options or other services.

In addition, the UB HEALS volunteers hand out hats, gloves, hygiene kits and other small necessities. Last December, they organized a foot clinic, providing new boots, socks, foot-care kits and medical consultations to some of Buffalo’s homeless population at the Holy Cross shelter on the city’s Lower West Side.

“These folks have to be on the move all the time, and are in dire need of shoes that will not only support them but also withstand Buffalo’s winters,” said Reema Panjwani, public relations manager for UB HEALS and a second-year medical student.

As a medical school-based initiative, UB HEALS is one of just a few of its kind in the nation. The program was launched in spring 2016 by medical student Moudi Hubeishy, who serves as program director. David Milling, associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the Jacobs School, is faculty advisor.

Since it began, UB HEALS has served more than 1,000 people. Grants and an annual crowdfunding campaign support the group’s efforts. In the past two years, the student-led organization has raised more than $30,000, helping give it the financial security to stay afloat for years to come.