Report of a Student-Operated Health Clinic in Gainesville, Florida

OUTPATIENT CLINICS initiated and operated primarily by medical students have become in- creasingly common in medically underserved areas during the part few years.The primary goal of these clinics has beefr to make medical care more accessible to indigent persons whose present care is fragmented among local practitioners and clinics.Participating students have considered the educational experience in treating indigent patients to be a secondary goal only.The historical background and the activities of these clinics have received a fair amount of publicity in the lay and medical press.However, to our knowledge, there have been no recently published reports of evaluation on the quality of care provided by these clinics or their accept- ance by the community being served.Our report describes the utilization patterns and preventive services provided by one such clinic operated by students in Gainesville, Fla.