n=35 Student-Run Free Clinic: teaching compassion, caring for the underserved

Sunny Smith, MD, is co-medical director of UC San Diego School of Medicine's Student-Run Free Clinic, a popular elective that offers free care for San Diego's underserved and provides a unique hand-on experience for doctors-in-training. One of Smith’s most cherished memories of her 20+ years with the clinic is the time the students crowdsourced funding to help an uninsured man get the prosthetic leg he needed to return to work. One of the best things about the clinic, she says, is the opportunity to be part of patients’ lives for years, getting to know them and their families. The clinic is a featured part of UC San Diego’s new T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion. Learn more at health.ucsd.edu/compassion.