Magis Clinic Opens Saturday, September 11, 2004

Students in Creighton University Medical Center’s School of Medicine received a grant from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to establish the Magis Medical Clinic for homeless men, women and children in the Omaha area. The clinic is set to open this Saturday, September 11, 2004.

Creighton medical students proposed the Magis Medical Clinic in response to the community’s need for medical services for homeless families. Working with the Omaha Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless (OACCH), the students identified that there are few outpatient health care options available to the homeless on Saturdays. Medical students and volunteer physicians organize and staff the clinic, and provide free drop-in health services Saturday afternoons and evenings at the Siena/Francis House, located near the Creighton campus.

The clinic offers also acute care services and referrals to existing community services. The clinic received a $12,000 grant for start-up funding, and is eligible to receive funding for the second, third and fourth years of the program.

The grant is part of the “Caring for Community” program in collaboration with the AAMC and the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative, which provides funding for community health projects initiated, developed and run by medical students. Creighton’s School of Medicine is one of only eight medical schools in the country to receive the award.