By Judy Clabes
NKyTribune editor
Not only can Northern Kentucky take special pride in having a University of Kentucky College of Medicine/NKY, located on the Northern Kentucky University campus, it can take special pride in the kind of community-focused service experience its students are getting. Be assured, its graduates will be the best possible physicians imaginable.
CCRU (Compassionate Care Reaching yoU) Outreach was founded in May 2022 by Dr. Holly Danneman, associate dean of the college, former associate dean Steven Haist, and an enthusiastic group of medical students who became the initial executive team. The idea was that the students would put to work in a real-life clinic what they were learning in the classroom — and learn even more.
The CCRU Clinic would be a student-led free clinic, providing compassionate, accessible medical care to underserved populations in the NKY community. Initial partner in the endeavor was the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky which provided onsite clinic space and major resources. Other resources and supplies are provided the CCRU Outreach team and donors.
The CCRU Clinic is staffed two evenings a week at ESNKY from 6-9 p.m. Patients are seen on a first-come-first-served basis, only to overnight guests at the shelter. The students — always under the supervision of a physician — see 5-10 patients per clinic night in two patient exam spaces.
They have a variety of over-the-counter medications and supplies, received from donors, and can provide a limited initial supply of common antibiotics to patients free of charge through partner pharmacies. They provide a variety of services — free medical screenings, preventive care education, write prescriptions, offer over-the-counter medications, treat seasonal allergies, wounds, and more, encounter chronic diseases (and refer patients). They see real patients up close and hear their stories. They encounter a wide variety of patients — and never know what to expect. And, thanks to ESNKY, they can even provide bus passes so patients can get their prescriptions filled.
The value of the personal contact cannot be understated.
Along the way a host of partners have joined in, including HealthPoint Family Care, Ruwe Family Pharmacy, Blank’s Pharmacy, and Faith Community Pharmacy.
The college’s Introduction to Clinical Medicine course has included volunteering at CCRU as a service learning experience, but the experience has taken on a life of its own.
“Most students continue to work at the clinics, even though it’s not required,” said Emily Sharp, who is one of three co-managers of the CCRU program this year. “It’s an invaluable experience to have these first patient interactions.”
Serving the homeless and a population for whom medical care is traditionally out of reach is an eye-opening experience for these students. It reinforces the need for patient-focused care and reminds them why they wanted to be doctors in the first place.
Dr. Danneman agrees. “You can read about it or hear about it in lectures, but for students to really get it, they need these experiences. They make a difference. Students are moulded at a formative stage, and their innate desire (to serve patients) becomes second nature.”
The students now offer a clinic at Florence Christian Church once a month, and they participate in Health Fairs and work with the ION Center, Brighton Center, and Journey Recovery LLC.
And they have their eyes on more expansion — and dream of a free-clinic home of their own, complete with a pharmacy on site.
Meet the co-managers of the incredible CCRU program:
• Emily Sharp
A 4th year student at UKCOM/NKY, Emily is currently in the application process for an OBGYN residency. The Xavier University graduate is passionate about serving the community, especially women in underserved populations and individuals with disabilities. She volunteered her first year and acted as a Co-Supplies and Lab Manager in her second year, ensuring the students had all the supplies they needed to serve their patients.
CCRU has been “monumental in my development as a medical student and future physician,” she says, citing the invaluable experience in navigating community resources to provide “holistic, affordable care” for patients.
“It has been very humbling to get to know our patient population and their stories – and to hopefully have a positive impact on their health and well being.”
• Zoey Knox
A 4th year medical student at UKCOM-NKY. She is pursing a career in family medicine. Her earlier experience as a competitive gymnast taught her discipline and resilience. She met her husband Zack in high school in Maysville and they both attended NKU. She was one of 20 students selected for the STEM Scholar program which helped shape her path toward medical school. The first in her family to attend college, she was accepted into UK’s Early Assurance Program in her sophomore year and that granted her conditional acceptance into UKCOM.
She joined the inaugural leadership team of CCRU as the Supplies and Lab Manager, helping lay the foundation for the organization. She is committed to the program because she believes everyone deserves accessible, compassionate healthcare and wants to be part of the change to address disparity in healthcare. She believes that the early clinical exposure for medical students is crucial because it allows students to apply classroom learning to patient care.
• Armin Razavi
A 3rd year medical student, Armin is pursuing emergency medicine for residency. Originally from Louisville, he first came to the NKY area for his undergraduate degree in neuroscience at UC. He will be graduating with a concentration in global health which involves a medical mission trip during his 4th year to a global region that struggles with accessible healthcare.
He considers CCRU to be an integral component of his medical education that allows students to make a positive impact in the community but also provides an invaluable opportunity to gain clinical experience early in their medical education journey.
“Under the direct supervision of a board-certified attending physician, medical students of all years are able to develop and sharpen their clinical tools: interviewing patients, performing a thorough physical exam, and creating a treatment plan,” he said.
Students have directly impacted hundreds of lives by providing free, compassionate healthcare directly to populations of the community who are most vulnerable to healthcare disparities, Razavi says.
See the whole CCRU leadership team here.
To donate to the CCRU clinic, click here for the Amazon supplies list.