{"id":603,"date":"2018-05-04T17:00:23","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T17:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazines.uthscsa.edu\/tribute\/?p=603"},"modified":"2018-09-27T13:52:24","modified_gmt":"2018-09-27T13:52:24","slug":"san-antonio-refugee-health-clinic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazines.uthscsa.edu\/schools\/2018\/05\/04\/san-antonio-refugee-health-clinic\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Social Determinants of Health: San Antonio Refugee Health Clinic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nursing student Connie Wang checks the blood pressure of a patient from Nepal at the San Antonio Refugee Health Clinic at St. Francis Episcopal Church. Heidi Worabo, D.N.P., RN, FNP-BC, assistant professor\/clinical (top right), serves as co-director of the interprofessional clinic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Salwa Choucair
\nUT Health San Antonio operates the San Antonio Refugee Health Clinic (SARHC) in partnership with the Center for Refugee Services of San Antonio, a non-profit organization with a mission to promote the wellness, self-sufficiency and successful community integration of resettled refugees and their families. A true interdisciplinary and joint effort among nursing, medical and dental students and faculty from UT Health, SARHC addresses the health and social needs of about 5,000 immigrant refugees living in northwest San Antonio.<\/p>\n

Open weekly on Wednesday evenings at St. Francis Episcopal Church, the primary goal of the clinic is to serve as an initial trustworthy location for refugees to overcome their inhibitions and adequately address their health care issues and social needs.<\/p>\n

SARHC Co-Director Heidi Worabo, D.N.P., RN, FNP-BC, assistant professor\/clinical, says nursing students have a great opportunity to not only work with a vulnerable population but to also work side by side with their counterparts in the schools of medicine and dentistry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe interprofessional aspect of this clinic is ideal,\u201d Dr. Worabo says. \u201cI learn from the dental and medical students when they are conducting exams, and I find they learn from the nursing students especially when it comes to community engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the beginning of each weekly clinic, students participate in a faculty-led presentation, which usually includes a patient case that brings the students together and can be interactive, says Dr. Worabo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe collaborate and learn from each other, and that is rare when it comes to a typical nursing, dental or medical education. I didn\u2019t have these opportunities when I was training.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SARHC operates as a walk-in clinic, and Dr. Worabo and her colleagues see an average of 15 patients weekly with the majority being adults. Since language is often a barrier to health care in this population, interpreters are available.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see quite a variety of cultures,\u201d Dr. Worabo says, \u201cand I tell my nurse practitioner students repeatedly that if you are unable to communicate with your patients or unable to understand their perspective, then a lot of times, they will not listen to your recommendations or treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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