COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETIES AND ALLIANCE CHAPTERS – Medical Community Grants
NEW! Grapeland Immunization Project/Anderson-Leon County Medical Society. The Grapeland Immunization Program provides flu vaccinations to Grapeland (in Houston County) school students during flu season. Volunteers will give flu shots to students who lack local access to health care so they stay healthy and avoid missing school.
NEW! Campaign to Reduce Bullying and Build Self-Esteem/Bexar County Medical Society Alliance. This campaign aims to reduce bullying and build self-esteem among children with craniofacial deformities and birth defects of the face or head such as a cleft palate. The program will educate children and their families when they undergo treatment for this medical condition. Outreach to the patients’ peers will address teasing and social exclusion, which can lead to depression and low self-esteem.
Drive Thru, Prevent Flu/Lamar Delta County Medical Society. The Paris-Lamar County Health District partners with the Lamar-Delta County Medical Society and other community groups to provide an efficient method for 400 citizens, age 18 or older residents to receive the influenza vaccine. The “drive-thru” shot clinic is an easy-access option to both the elderly and to a vast majority of the rural community who find it difficult to visit a regular, walk-in clinic.
NEW! Pneumonia Vaccine for the South Plains Food Bank/Lubbock County Medical Society Alliance. The South Plains Immunization Network in partnership with the Lubbock County Medical Society Alliance to decrease the incidence of pneumonia in this underinsured population. Prevnar 13 is offered clients of the South Plains Food Bank who qualify for the vaccine during the annual flu vaccine clinic at the food bank.
NEW! Battling Opioid Misuse in Nueces County/Nueces County Medical Society Alliance. Opioid misuse has become a public health crisis and the Nueces Alliance will raise awareness through a series of PSA’s and a symposium. Activities will communicate that opioids can be addictive and dangerous, stress preventing the start of opioid misuse, and provide support for those already struggling.
NEW! Northeast Texas Public Health District "Health on Wheels"/Smith County Medical Society. The Northeast Texas Public Health District will bolster existing community health programs and services to residents of 21 East Texas counties with a donated Mobile Coach from Carter BloodCare. Among the outreach efforts will be the provision of mobile immunization services for children and adults in Wood County and rural Smith County.
Project Access Tarrant County/Tarrant County Medical Society. Project Access Tarrant County (PATC) is a community collaboration that provides compassionate specialty care for Tarrant County’s uninsured. A network of volunteer TMA member physicians collaborate with hospitals, donating ancillary services, charitable community clinics, and other providers to serve the target population of the uninsured working poor. To date, PATC has enrolled more than 1,300 patients and has provided more than $11.5 million in donated care that this population would have been otherwise unable to obtain.
Immunization Collaboration of Tarrant County (ICTC)/Tarrant County Medical Society Alliance Foundation. With a membership of more than 35 organizations including TCMSAF, this program provides 1) low cost vaccine events that provide more than 7,000 eligible children and adults annually with required vaccines for kindergarten, 7th grade and college school registrations; 2) vaccine education for parents, the community, health care workers and providers through website and social media channels so ICTC becomes a go-to source for information about the importance and safety of immunizations and; 3) vaccine advocacy collaboration with TMA and The Immunization Partnership leading to science-based vaccine policies.
TMA MEDICAL STUDENT CHAPTERS –Medical Student Community Leadership Grants
Alliance Refugee Wellness Fair/Baylor College of Medicine. This annual event provides direct medical and preventative health services, education about health and wellbeing, and access to medical care resources to the underserved refugee population that has resettled in Harris County. In partnership with several area not-for-profit refugee resettlement agencies, the fair provides refugees with culturally competent resources to navigate the Harris Health System.
NEW! Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies/Baylor College of Medicine Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies program is an after-school education program for elementary students at an underserved school in Houston, Texas. Curriculum covers both physical health and mental health. Students strive to educate a primarily underserved community about holistic wellbeing and healthy habits, while simultaneously inspiring and encouraging interest in STEM fields and higher education.
NEW! Refugee Resettlement Needs Assessment/Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) Refugee Resettlement Needs Assessment is a collaboration among BCM faculty and medical students and refugee communities in Houston to identify unmet needs of recently resettled refugees and explore social determinants of health. The results are used to strategically organize future initiatives and address specific community needs.
NEW! Flu Crew/Dell Medical School. The Dell Medical Students “Flu Crew” provides free vaccinations and vaccine education at community events to help keep Travis County residents healthy. The program also provides interprofessional community-based learning opportunities for medical students.
NEW! Feed My Sheep Mobile Pediatric Clinic/Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. This free clinic is a volunteer-based mobile clinic that provides healthcare to medically underserved children in Central Texas with a primary focus on the uninsured. Students will take the van to low-income areas of the community to serve children with limited transportation and financial resources.
NEW! Community Week/Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine Community Week is a six-day event in collaboration with the colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy, the School of Public Health and others to provide information, care and services to the uninsured of Brazos County. The final day an all-day health fair where community members learn about health and medicine and connect with people and local resources.
NEW! Breast Cancer Screening in Underserved Populations/Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. The Medical Student Run Clinic of the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine currently serves the Sparks Colonia in rural El Paso County, providing care free of charge including regular clinic visits, sports physicals and breast cancer screening services. This program will expand to offer breast health education and mammography services to the Agua Dulce Colonia in El Paso County. TTUHSC El Paso medical students and physicians volunteer their time for this effort.
NEW! Smoking Cessation Program at The Free Clinic/ Texas Tech University Health Science Center Lubbock. This four-week class helps patients re-learn addiction, habit, and support. The program motivates patients to reflect on their personal reasons for quitting, become more aware of and know how to separate their triggers from smoking, and equip them with the tools and resources they need to quit.
NEW! UTHealthCares Third Annual Health Fair/University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) – McGovern Medical School. This student-led interprofessional organization at McGovern Medical School serves the members of the Eastex-Jensen community of Houston. The primary service, an annual community health fair, is supplemented by hosting monthly events. Attendees leave the health fairs with educational information and tools to create impactful changes to their health.
Frontera de Salud/University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) – McGovern Medical School. This student-run community health project addresses health disparities in the Rio Grande Valley by providing medical students the opportunity to practice exam and communication skills through free health screenings and education to persons in medically underserved communities. Collaborating with the Cameron County Health Department, the students screen 200-400 residents yearly and connect uninsured and high-risk attendees to local low-cost clinics and health services.
HOPE Health Fair /University of Texas Medical Branch. This collaborative event provides vaccines, health screenings, and a meal to homeless and uninsured individuals in Galveston. The UTMB TMA, Family Medicine Interest Group and Gold Humanism Honor Society work with St. Vincent’s Student Run Clinic to host the second annual HOPE (Helping Others Through Partnered Empowerment) Health Fair. In 2018, more than 200 vaccines were provided to this community, and in 2019, HOPE expects to serve at least 250 individuals.
Implementing a Smoking Cessation Program in a Dallas Homeless Population/UT Southwestern (UTSW). Medical students from UTSW address tobacco use by homeless persons at a local shelter, Union Gospel Mission, by implementing support groups, pharmacotherapy and health education. This program is an immersive educational opportunity for medical students in preventative and community medicine who build a future commitment to these communities by interacting with vulnerable populations and gaining knowledge about health disparities and cultural competency.