Our Clinics
There are three student-run homeless clinics at UCLA, and each serves a distinct patient population. The clinics run on Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Each clinic is coordinated by two 4th-year student chiefs. 1st and 2nd-year students are paired up with 3rd-year students to take patient histories and complete physical exams. Students then present their patients to a resident and/or attending. When time allows, the resident or attending will give a teaching session on a topic pertinent to the homeless patient population.
Shamoshel, Santa Monica, CA
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone 310-581-9825
Fax 310-581-9314
The Samoshel clinic focuses on providing free health care services to the adult homeless population by offering general physicals, basic primary care treatment, and preventive health services. Based on screening evaluations and physical exams, patient are provided on-site services and also referred to appropriate facilities for additional testing, imaging, and treatment.
The Samoshel homeless shelter became a part of the OPCC (formerly Ocean Park Community Center) in September 2005. It was established in 1994 by the Salvation Army to provide homeless men and women an alternative to living on the streets and to help them obtain jobs and permanent housing. Services include on-site case management, counseling, 12-step meetings, housing referrals and employment assistance.
As Samoshel provides emergency and transitional housing for 110 homeless adults, a steady stream of patients and a variety of medical concerns are serviced at the Samoshel clinic with common symptoms ranging from upper respiratory infections to dermatologic complaints.
Westwood Transitional Housing Village, Westwood, CA
- Patient population: Mostly women & children living in transitional housing
- Time: Saturdays once a month from 9:00am - 12pm
- Health issues: Physicals, PPDs, vaccines, URIs, well-baby checks, preventive medicine
Mobile Clinic, West Hollywood, CA
The mission of the UCLA/GWHFC Mobile Clinic Project is to improve the health outcomes and quality of life for homeless and low-income individuals in the Hollywood and West Hollywood areas. This goal is reached through providing the following: direct medical and health care services; health promotion and disease prevention activities; social support and case management services; and referral to medical and social resources in the community.
The clinic is a student-run, street based effort founded to provide basic medical and social support services to the homeless men and women in our community who have very limited access to such services. The clinic represents a unique grouping of the UCLA School of medicine, public health school, and the undergraduate campus. All schools play an active role in ensuring the success of the clinic.
We serve the homeless population of West Hollywood, with common social-medical issues being IVDU, prostitution, transgender care, HIV, and mental health. Our clinic was founded on the ideal that "We go out to meet our patients on their terms". We work using a harm reduction model and try to implement as much preventive medicine into our care as possible. Most of the clients come to us for acute care though we do have several that are return patients for chronic care or medication refill. We generally see about 15-20 patients a night. The most common presentations are URI, asthma, GERD, abscess care, foot care, skin infections, and fungal infections. We also have an extensive referral system. It is our goal to identify any patients that would require long-term care and get them the resources to establish primary care at a facility that will better meet their needs.