It was perfect timing.<\/p>\n
The Connecticut Council on Occupational Safety and Health (ConnectiCOSH) was beginning to spearhead outreach to local farms to improve the health of migrant farm workers. This outreach ultimately led to the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers receiving a federal voucher grant and the creation of the CT River Valley Farmworker Health Program (CRVFHP) to address the health care needs of the migrant farm worker population from Connecticut\u2019s Long Island Sound to the Vermont border.<\/p>\n Today the medical student-run UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic<\/a>, part of a larger inter-agency and organizational effort, has been going strong, with activities expanding across 17 farming communities in Connecticut offering free health care and screenings three nights a week from June to Oct. during the growing season on the farms and nurseries where the migrants work and often live. The clinic fully partners with FQHCs for referral and follow up.<\/p>\n \u201cTwenty-three years ago our medical students saw an unmet need in the underserved community, and UConn helped marshal the resources to make the clinic happen. Now our migrant farm worker clinic has become part of the fabric of Connecticut and UConn,\u201d shared Gould<\/a>, founder and faculty advisor to the UConn Migrant Farmer Clinic based in UConn medical school\u2019s Connecticut Area Health Education Center (AHEC)<\/a>. \u201cThe clinic has evolved to be a robust, efficient system of care for the migrant farmers over the last two decades.\u201d<\/p>\n Depending on the growing season\u2019s weather conditions, it is estimated that the number of migrant farm workers in Connecticut could be up to 20,000. The majority of the migrant farmers cared for by the clinic, are transient, have no or limited English proficiency, lack health insurance and are low-income without the funds to access medical care, nor the time with their arduous work schedule to see a physician for care. They may be at high risk for occupational hazards associated with farming such as skin issues and repetitive motion and orthopedic injuries, and common chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension.<\/p>\n \u201cThese migrant farm workers don\u2019t get paid if they don\u2019t work,\u201d stresses Gould. \u201cSo we take the clinic directly to them at the farm and nurseries around the state where they are working and living. We provide critical access to health care and we screen, diagnose, and triage their medical issues in real-time, onsite at the farms.\u00a0 Also, a mobile pharmacy run by the faculty and students of the UConn School of Pharmacy is onsite during the clinic visits.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t typically think of Connecticut as a farm state, so this is a population that doesn\u2019t get recognition for the work they do and that people in Connecticut may forget about,\u201d says second-year medical student Christian Caceres, 23, of Madison who is one of the clinic\u2019s medical student coordinators. \u00a0His fellow medical student coordinator leads are second-year medical students Will Bogaert and Elizabeth Sheils, along with part-time lead Brett Chen.<\/p>\n Caceres adds: \u201cThese migrant farm workers leave their home country to work in Connecticut during the growing season to send money home to their families. They are busy working from sunrise to sunset when most doctors\u2019 offices are only open. So we are the future doctors volunteering to give them free access to primary care and simple health screenings for conditions that if untreated could become life-threatening.\u201d<\/p>\n The clinic\u2019s fleet of health care providers are solely volunteers. But it is not just UConn medical students involved. Other student volunteers hail from UConn School of Dental Medicine, UConn School of Pharmacy, as well as the UConn physical therapy doctoral program. Also, the physician assistant students of Quinnipiac University and St. Joseph\u2019s also give back, along with other students from health professional degree programs, including incoming medical and dental students at UConn, graduate schools, colleges, high schools, or students interested in applying to health profession schools.<\/p>\n Also, more than 50 doctors volunteer their time and expertise including 35 UConn Health doctors and dentists. Plus, medical residents in training, social workers, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physician assistants, and physical therapists, and community health workers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have more volunteers than we have volunteer slots,\u201d says Gould. All volunteers receive in-depth clinical, cultural competency, and population health risk assessment skills training in advance of their clinic participation.<\/p>\n During last year\u2019s growing season, at the clinic\u2019s 28 separate farm visits, nearly 500 volunteers cared for more than 327 migrant farmer patients (with a total of 428 patient care visits) at 17 different farm locations. In addition, <\/em>51 patients received dental care. In 2018, the 412 student volunteers committed over 4,000 hours of community service and outreach for the migrant farmers.<\/p>\n Also, 187 patient referrals were made to local community health centers and FQHCs for the migrant farmers important follow up care needs through the CT River Valley Farmworker Health Program (CRVFHP). \u00a0The medical student clinic coordinators, who encourage and organize the patient referrals onsite at the farms, conduct weekly follow up communications with the local community health centers to ensure a patient\u2019s access to follow up care is confirmed. The migrant farmers\u2019 follow up care is funded by a federal voucher grant from the Bureau of Primary Health Care to CRVFHP.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a big team effort. It\u2019s been such a wonderful experience volunteering at the farms to help these underserved people who are so grateful for our care,\u201d says Caceres. \u201cIt also has given me a great deal of leadership skills and patient care experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of the student coordinator\u2019s role is recruiting individuals to meet the need for medical interpreters.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the migrant farmers we care for are from Mexico or Latin America and they don\u2019t speak English. With the current political immigration debate and news coverage the migrant farm workers can at times be hesitant or afraid to register or participate in the free, confidential health clinic,\u201d says Caceres. \u201cBut my Spanish speaking skills and the help of the volunteer medical interpreters has been vital with gaining trust of this community. We reassure the migrant workers that we simply are here to provide free health care and eventually pleased migrant farmers spread the word to others that UConn is indeed a trusted source of care.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Picture-023-300x200.jpg\")
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