Skip to main content
menu
Education / Medical Education / Outreach / Street Medicine

 

Street Medicine

Taking it to the Streets

Students and doctors participating in UR Street Outreach, the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry’s street medicine program, say they get back much more than they give, and learn from the homeless population they serve.

UR Street Outreach is a new student-run project at SMD. It serves the homeless population in Rochester whose needs are not being met by SMD’s two other student-run outreach medical projects which provide free health care services to uninsured and under-served adults. (UR Well clinics at Asbury First United Methodist Church and St. Joseph's Neighborhood Center.)

Bridging the Gap

There’s a chasm between the medical community and the street population created by mistrust and lack of understanding. Homeless people are often wary of the medical community and reluctant to seek help, despite their need. Medical personnel often have little direct knowledge of homeless people’s issues or understanding of their perspectives. UR Street Outreach seeks to bridge that gap by bringing medicine to the street homeless, on their turf, on their terms. This means walking the streets and seeking out the camps where homeless people live. The first and most important step is building trust.

Watch Street Medicine in Action

Follow along as our crew captures life in the Street Medicine program.

Watch all episodes