This story ran in the University's fall Public Service magazine.
The year was 1968. As the Vietnam War raged and inner cities burned, a group of health affairs students from Carolina opened a free medical clinic to serve low-income residents of the Chapel Hill-Durham area.
Twenty-seven years later, UNC students continue to operate what is believed to be the oldest student-run health service in the country. Each Wednesday during the academic year, students from the schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and public health organize and staff clinics offering free after-hours dental and medical care to Orange County residents. They operate under the name Student Health Action Committee, or SHAC.
"It's not uncommon to find faculty-run clinics where students just come in and work," said Adam Goldstein, a SHAC faculty adviser. "What sets SHAC apart is that it was originated by students, and students maintain primary ownership. They recruit student volunteers, provide the services, do the budgets and decide what special services to do."
The medical clinic operates out of quarters rented from Piedmont Health Services in Carrboro. Dental students set up shop in the Carr Mill Mall offices of the Orange County Health Department. Until a few years ago, pharmacy students also participated in SHAC. They now staff the pharmacy for a medical clinic at a local shelter for the homeless.
On a recent Wednesday night, about a dozen people filled the waiting room of the SHAC clinic. Sophia Edwards of Chapel Hill brought her 4-year-old son for a physical examination required by Head Start. Kristia Harward drove from Hillsborough for a job-related physical.
It was a typical night, said Marc Shalaby, a medical student coordinator. "Physicals are very important at this time of year," he said. "Kids need school and sports physicals. That's most of what we'll see for a month. The other big business is job physicals."
During the course of a year, students at the medical clinic will treat about 600 patients needing physicals, well-baby checkups and other routine care. The dental clinic sees up to 150 patients for cleanings, fillings and simple extractions. Licensed professionals, faculty members and graduate students oversee the students' work. Altogether, the clinics provide more than $25,000 worth of medical and dental care for the community.
"There is a sizable number of uninsured who also are not eligible for Medi-caid," said Daniel B. Reimer, director of the Orange County Health Department. "SHAC serves an important function in helping provide care for these people."
Michael Eyster, director of operations for Piedmont Health Services, said the SHAC clinic's evening hours are particularly valuable because many low-income people can't afford to leave work to visit a doctor or dentist during normal business hours. The clinics have proved as popular with student volunteers as with patients.
Julia Gamble, a nursing student coordinator, said three-quarters of last year's class of 130 nursing students volunteered at the clinic.
So many medical students sign up that they're allowed to work only one night each year, and even so, many students are turned away.
For medical and dental students, the clinics often provide students their first opportunity to treat patients.
"The first two years [of medical school] is all books," Shalaby said. "A lot of people come here to see why they're in medical school."
Kevin Buchholtz, a coordinator for dental students, said it was a relief to perform his first dental procedure in a nonthreatening environment. "My first night, I was really nervous and hoping the patient didn't know how nervous I was," he said.
SHAC often takes on special projects. This year, the students planned a series of health fairs in cooperation with the American Medical Student Association. The first, called Heart Healthy, offered blood pressure checks, cholesterol screening and nutrition advice at a church in northeast Durham.
Meanwhile, SHAC is being credited with helping UNC win a $70,000 grant this year from Health Professions Schools in Service to the Nation, a program of the Pew Health Professions Commission. The grant, one of 20 awarded nationwide, is designed to assist medical and other health professions schools incorporate more community service into their curricula.
Program director Sarena Seifer said SHAC was an important factor in Carolina's selection.
"Students need to be more involved in determining the shape of their education," she said. "We were looking for a demonstration of students taking that leadership, and that's definitely a strength UNC already has."
For more information, call a SHAC faculty adviser--Adam Goldstein, School of Medicine, 6-3711; Beverly Foster, School of Nursing, 6-7511; or Tamara Campbell, School of Dentistry, 6-2792.
Medical student Jason Conway and nursing student Lori Yancey treat a patient at the Student Health Action Committee clinic.
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