Family Medicine
Care and community are at the heart of the student-run free clinic project .
BY NICOLE MLYNARYK , MS ’ 20
As the sun sinks into the ocean off San Diego ’ s Pacific Beach neighborhood , the boardwalk begins to buzz with nightlife . Music pulses as crowds queue up outside bars and restaurants . But just blocks away , in the parking lot of a church , a different line starts to form .
For one night each week , a small church space is transformed into UC San Diego ’ s Student-Run Free Clinic . What was once a storage closet is now a dentist ' s office . A folding table turns the hallway into a pharmacy . Clinic headquarters are housed in the daycare room , where staff members manage spreadsheets from kid-sized tables and chairs .
This site is one of several free clinic locations in San Diego County where medical students and faculty treat marginalized communities at no cost . Once the doors open , patients are greeted by a team of doctors , dentists , pharmacists , therapists , lawyers and social workers . For hours into the night , staff members weave through the tight spaces with focus and urgency . Supplies and paperwork are shuttled from room to room . The busy scene can be intimidating at first to new medical students , but one figure in the crowd is always ready to help : Dr . Natalie Rodriguez ’ 99 , MD ’ 05 .
Rodriguez is the associate director of the UC San Diego School of Medicine ’ s Student-Run Free Clinic Project . In these rooms , she seems to have an eye on everything and everyone . It ’ s a warm , attentive gaze that says , “ I see you . I ’ ve got you .”
22 TRITON | SPRING 2022