The mission of our free clinics is to provide superior health care in a compassionate manner, ever mindful of each patient's dignity and individuality. To accomplish this mission, interprofessional teams call upon the skills and expertise of all who work together to advance medical innovation, serve the health needs of the community, and further the knowledge of those dedicated to caring.
We have six community clinics throughout Chicago—the West, North, and South Sides—treating uninsured patients in communities that are underserved by the healthcare system in a variety of cultural contexts: Hispanic neighborhoods, a shelter for homeless women and children, and an Asian-American immigrant population, among others. These clinics a) provide excellent patient care, b) allow our students to gain hands-on experience in both patient care and medical service, and c) provide leadership opportunities for our students in the realm of clinic management and community outreach.
Over 90% of our trainees pursue work at our free clinics and list these experiences as among the most meaningful activities of their medical school career. This service work is an investment in medical training that can serve the community at the same time: with a successful free clinic program, underserved patients in areas without accessible health care can receive treatment, and medical students can begin to build service work into their practice, integrating it into their future careers. All our Free Clinics require that medical student patient care is supervised by a fully-licensed physician for clinic to run (includes UChicago & Northshore Faculty, Fellows, or Chief Residents).
In one year*, Pritzker’s Six Free Clinics have:
- Held 140 Clinic Sessions
- Have seen 507 Patients
- Involved 243 individual Student volunteers (most volunteer 3x or more!)
- Involved 53 individual Preceptors (many volunteer 2x or more!)
- Involved 41 Resident Volunteers
*Data pulled from March 2023 through March 2024 reports.
