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Purpose: The purpose of this article was to explore a community clinic’s impact on medical education in aims to elucidate an effective model to better address healthcare disparities and foster the next generation of compassionate healthcare professionals. Methods: 136 students from multiple midwestern universities, who had volunteered at least once at the Near West Free Clinic (NWFC), participated in a mixed-methods survey. Quantitative data were analyzed based on mean and standard deviation and plotted on various charts to demonstrate significant results. Qualitative responses were analyzed through thematic analysis to gain additional insight. Results: Students reported the highest level of agreement that volunteering at NWFC enhanced clinical skills, heightened awareness of social determinants of health, increased comfort in working with other disciplines, and motivated them in their studies. Conclusion: As universities look to enhance the medical education model to train students in an interdisciplinary manner, community clinics may be a solution that strengthens the foundation of future healthcare professionals, while serving the needs of the public.
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Bogenschutz et al. (2025) studied this question.
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