UCSD Will Open Student-Run Health Clinic In Tijuana

Friday, April 1, 2011

By Kenny Goldberg

Audio

UCSD Will Open Student-Run Health Clinic In Tijuana

Aired 4/1/11

To coincide with the meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University, UCSD said it will open a new student-run health clinic in Tijuana. Medical students from both the U.S. and Mexico will be involved.

TIJUANA, Mexico — To coincide with the meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University, UCSD said it will open a new student-run health clinic in Tijuana. Medical students from both the U.S. and Mexico will be involved.

UCSD medical students came up with the idea of the Tijuana clinic. School faculty will make the clinic part of new course. Students will learn about the challenges of providing care in Tijuana as they work alongside their Mexican counterparts.

Steffanie Strathdee is chief of UCSD's division of global public health. She said it's important for medical students to work with under-served populations.

"But it's even more important for them to get outside of their own communities, and to experience another culture," Strathdee emphasized. "And this gives us the opportunity to do both."

The clinic is scheduled to open at the end of April. It will operate on Saturdays in a building on the periphery of Tijuana's red light district.

Comments

Avatar image for user 'paec'

paec | April 1, 2011 at 5:36 p.m. ― 1 year, 1 month ago

And why doesn't an American community deserve these tax-supported services? There is certainly ample opportunity to 'work with under-served populations' in this country; we don't need to go international to accomplish the same opportunity. Unless, of course, this is an international relations opportunity and if that is the case, then federal, rather than state funds should be used.

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Avatar image for user 'sstrathdee'

sstrathdee | April 2, 2011 at 6:36 a.m. ― 1 year, 1 month ago

As one of the university faculty behind this initiative, I can assure you that almost all the resources being used to support this clinic are donated. Additionally, there already IS an American community being supported by a similar program by UCSD, which is a student-run free clinic in San Diego. The San Diego clinic was part of the inspiration for the clinic in TJ. Finally, the San Diego-Tijuana border has a large shared community; the health problems in Tijuana (like HIV and TB) have a direct, tangible impact on health problems in San Diego.

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Avatar image for user 'paec'

paec | April 2, 2011 at 9:13 p.m. ― 1 year, 1 month ago

sstrathdee, I'm glad to see additional facts on this new clinic. I wish that the article had included thes facts as it would have helped allay my stated concerns. While I'm not totally happy that the entire project isn't supported by donated funds, I do understand the need to control health issues such as you mentioned in the Tijuana community and appreciate the efforts of the UCSD community in doing so. Thank you for taking the time to address my concerns.

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Avatar image for user 'Missionaccomplished'

Missionaccomplished | April 3, 2011 at 3:06 p.m. ― 1 year, 1 month ago

Okay, so which Mexican citizens will be eligible. What if they have IMSS? Seguro Popular? Are independently wealthy? The article says nothing about this.

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