Community Service Initiatives
Our residents are heavily involved in multiple community outreach projects involving underserved communities across South Florida.
UM Department of Community Service (DOCS)
The Mitchell Wolfson Sr. Department of Community Service (better known as 'DOCS') is a medical student-run, non-profit organization at UM that provides health care to the under-served while providing invaluable learning experiences for medical students.
Health Fairs
DOCS hosts several annual screening health fairs throughout underserved areas of South Florida. The fairs offer services such as a vitals sign assessment, cholesterol & glucose testing, blood-based colorectal cancer screening, cervical Pap smear & breast examination, male prostate examination, bone density screening, vision/glaucoma screening, and mental health evaluations. Using a referral system of free clinics, DOCS also acts as a portal for entry to care for those patients identified to be at risk. This is an excellent opportunity for residents to act as preceptors for medical students in performing screening exams (male prostate, breast exams, Pap smears, etc.) and counseling patients on results. Health fairs include the South Dade Health Fair, Little Haiti Health Fair, Liberty City Health Fair, Florida Keys Health Fair, and more.
Community Clinics
DOCS Center for Haitian Studies (CHS) Clinic
At the CHS Clinic, a weekly night clinic established in 2019, primary care (via health screenings, routine laboratory evaluations, and valuable patient education and counseling) is provided to patients in Little Haiti and neighboring Miami communities. In order to be eligible for care at CHS, patients must live at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
DOCS IDEA Wound Care Clinic
At the IDEA Clinic, residents work directly with medical students and physicians with training in harm reduction to provide excellent, patient-centered care to people who inject drugs (PWID). This marginalized group has many difficulties accessing quality care, and many are turned away because of prior bad experiences with our healthcare system. Services here are focused on harm reduction and prevention to mitigate poor health outcomes associated with injection drug use.
DOCS Miami Rescue Mission (MRM) Clinic
Chair of the Department of Medicine, Dr. Weiss, with the MRM student staff.
The Miami Rescue Mission is one of many shelters throughout Miami providing stable housing, nutritional support, and primary care services to people experiencing homelessness through a unique 12-18-month program. Attendings and Residents from the Department of Medicine volunteer their time on Wednesday afternoons, working with medical students to provide care to these patients while learning about the social and medical hardships these patients face daily.
DOCS Rapid Access Wellness (RAW) Clinic
The University of Miami provides PrEP, nPEP, and STI testing and treatment as well as HIV rapid entry into care at community sites in Miami-Dade County. All services are provided at no cost to patients. All are welcome regardless of insurance or immigration/residency status. The GenWell service offers personalized, holistic care for transgender people to enhance their mental and physical well-being. Also offered are gender wellness counseling, prescriptions for feminizing and masculinizing hormones, HIV prevention, and referrals for consultations with surgeons and other specialists. The DOCS program runs a volunteer clinic on Wednesday nights with some of our faculty and residents as preceptors and becoming more familiar with providing and prescribing these therapies.
IDEA Needle Exchange
Named after the Infectious Disease Elimination Act, was founded by UM/Jackson IM Residency alum, Miller School of Medicine faculty member, and National 'Upstander' Hansel Tookes III, MD, MPH in 2016. The needle exchange was made possible by legislation change through HIV and epidemiology research conducted by Dr. Tookes, and its aim is to screen for HIV & Hepatitis C, provide naloxone prescriptions & education, and link participants to rehabilitation & treatment. Through DOCS, there is now a weekly clinic night where residents work alongside students to provide wound care to participants enrolled in the needle exchange program. The services provided by this clinic include incision & drainage of skin abscesses, harm reduction counseling, and general health screenings.
Miami Street Medicine
Miami Street Medicine is a nonprofit organization providing free healthcare services to people experiencing homelessness in Miami-Dade County. Part of The Dade County Street Response team, formed in 2018 by UM Attending Dr. Armen Henderson and UM Alumni Dr. Dan Bergholz, Miami Street Medicine treats patients where they are staying on the streets of Miami and provides services and medical education to its patients. Dr. Henderson was part of the Netflix documentary Convergence: Courage in a Crisis, which looked at acts of kindness at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trafficking Healthcare Resources and Interdisciplinary Victim Services and Education (THRIVE) Clinic
The THRIVE Clinic is a multidisciplinary, multicultural program that battles infringement on human rights by providing primary care, psychiatric and behavioral health services, and gynecological care to victims of human trafficking, all in one location. Volunteers have the unique opportunity to serve these victims, many of whom are referred to the clinic by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office.
Human Rights Clinic (HRC)
At the Human Rights Clinic, residents work in collaboration with the University of Miami School of Law to perform medical screening exams, both physicals and psychiatric evaluations, on victims seeking asylum. This opportunity to promote social and economic justice globally and in the U.S. provides experience writing medical affidavits, documenting abuse, and screening for psychological trauma.
STEM Saturdays
STEM Saturdays is an initiative that fosters creativity & learning in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in children from the South Florida community through interactive activities. These events are hosted at various locations throughout South Florida and provide an outlet for residents & medical students to teach and build enthusiasm for different topics within the STEM umbrella.