Kristin Wong, a University of Kansas School of Medicine student, once saw a patient at the JayDoc Free Clinic who had a little bit of everything – a little depression, diabetes, and body aches.

“No one problem was extraordinary, but all together, it added immensely to her stress,” Wong said.

The clinic provides invaluable services to patients and its volunteer caregivers, including students such as Wong. It offers free health care to poor, underinsured or uninsured patients, and practical experience for University of Kansas medical, nursing, and allied health students.

“It’s so good for the community, and the students do such a nice job,” said JoEllen Greischar-Billiard, RN, MS, a JayDoc volunteer and clinical assistant professor with the KU School of Nursing.

In 2003, KU medical students founded the walk-in clinic, located in the Southwest Boulevard Family Health Care building at 340 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, Kansas. Since then, the JayDoc clinic has expanded its hours and added specialty-care evenings. It now operates Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m., with specialtycare appointments available for diabetes, women’s health care, and physical therapy clinics.

The clinic also provides preventive health services that patients may not otherwise receive from their primary care physicians such as Pap smear screenings for women to assess cervical cancer risk or Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) blood tests for men to test for prostate cancer.

Third-year student Sarah Rickel helps coordinate the physical therapy appointments and volunteers as a physical therapist. “I really look forward to my evenings at JayDoc,” Rickel said. Most problems are work-related or repetitive use injuries, with back pain being the most frequent ailment. Students also can provide some assistive devices such as crutches, canes, or walkers.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that about 28,500 Wyandotte County residents, roughly 18 percent of the population, do not have health insurance. JayDoc volunteers are doing what they can to help alleviate and prevent a health crisis for many.

The clinic typically serves 10 to 25 patients per night, said medical student John May, co-director of the JayDoc Clinic. Last year alone, the clinic saw nearly 1,300 new or returning patients.

A similar JayDoc clinic, also run by KU medical students and volunteers, opened last year in Wichita.

“The JayDoc Free Clinic is a learning environment in so many ways,” May said. “Not only are our volunteers given a setting to hone their clinical skills, but students of different disciplines – be it nursing, physical therapy, or medicine – learn to work as a collective unit. This is an invaluable opportunity to embrace the team approach to medicine and to call on other professions for their respective expertise. Most importantly, patients are given thorough and comprehensive care that addresses their individual needs.”

The clinic can be an exciting place to work, Wong added. “Rarely are you sitting down or feeling bored.”

For more information, call the JayDoc Free Clinic at 913-709-3228 or visit http://www3.kumc.edu/jaydocfreeclinic/.