the clinic<\/a> began to serve patients, the first of whom had arrived early to be seen as soon as it opened.\u00a0<\/p>\nPatients come for a variety of reasons, ranging from Covid or Flu tests, checking vitals and monitoring illnesses, to teeth cleaning or physical therapy. Many members of the community rely on Flying Sam\u2019s for their medications and other services that they are not able to get elsewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Patients often return consistently, including Soledad Izquierdo Reyes who has been going to the clinic for many years to be treated for several issues, including glaucoma.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reyes is now 81 years old and expressed her gratitude to the Flying Samaritans for providing her with necessary medication and \u201chermosas servicios [beautiful services].\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Recently, there have been major advancements to the clinic including the addition of an optometry station and the transition from paper files to an Electronic Health Record system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCollectively all as leaders, we chose that we don\u2019t want to just do what we\u2019ve been doing, but we want to grow,\u201d Jeremy La Rosa, Flying Sams\u2019 president and fourth year student, said. \u201cWe want to do it in the best way possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Along with the group of students, several medical professionals also volunteer at the clinic to work with patients, as well as giving students the opportunity to shadow and assist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a gentleman here who recently had an amputation. If that case was in the U.S., he would already have been fitted for a prosthetic,\u201d Gail Bachman, a physical therapist and SDSU alumni that has volunteered at these clinics for years, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has to physically pay out of pocket for a prosthetic, and his family can\u2019t really afford that. And so, likely, he just won\u2019t be able to ambulate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Later that day, that patient\u2019s wife told Bachman that they had built a homemade prosthetic leg by melting plastic on the stovetop and molding it to his leg. Bachman and the volunteers were amazed to see a video of the patient walking down the street with the makeshift prosthetic and a walker.<\/p>\n
The Flying Sam\u2019s team was able to provide care for 70 patients during this clinic, some seeking dental care or physical therapy, and many coming for general medical assistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like it genuinely has like shaped me into like a better future healthcare provider,\u201d Anna Sklyar, a second year kinesiology major who has volunteered at multiple clinics, said. \u201cWith like every clinic you learn so much, but you also learn about [\u2026] the world and the people around you and [\u2026] the people that you have yet to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n
From students who are fluent Spanish speakers to those practicing introductory phrases with patients, each person on the team is able to connect with the community in their own way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you\u2019re [in] healthcare or not, I think this is a great opportunity to just kind of, like, put forth your best effort into becoming a better person day by day, \u201d Shawn Wong, clinic coordinator and third year student, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cServing in a community like this has opened my eyes, like, not even within healthcare, but just as a person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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