Community Learning

As a community whose mission is to improve health care, we never forget that medicine is about serving those in need. Our curriculums include a focus on treating underserved patients including the elderly, disabled, economically disadvantaged, and immigrants and refugees.

Hispanic Health Care in Resource Limited Environments Elective

This elective is offered in collaboration with faculty in the Department of Family & Preventice Medicine, Gynecology/Obstetrics, Pediatrics and the Physician Assistant (PA) program. The purpose of this elective is to expose School of Medicine and PA students to the challenges of providing health care to Hispanic patients, especially in a resource-poor environment.

Physical Therapy in the Dominican Republic

Limited health care access in the Dominican Republic poses challenges for many due to economic constraints and geographic isolation. In this episode of Your Fantastic Mind, filmed on location, a dedicated team of rehabilitation therapists embarks on their 11th annual trip to the Dominican Republic providing physical therapy and public health interventions in a developing country with little to no resources.

Putting People First

Sarah Clark and Sam Broida founded the Georgia Human Rights Clinic when they were medical students. The clinic serves immigrants in Atlanta who are seeking legal asylum, and benefit from medical and psychological evaluations. The clinic was passed down to another set of medical students when Sarah and Sam graduated in 2021.

Five Years After Graduating, Lucia Rodriguez Still a Staple on Emory Service Learning Trips

She could have gone anywhere for physical therapy school. But when she learned that Emory’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program offered students the opportunity to do international service learning projects, her choice was easy.

Emory Healthcare equipment finds new life at Clarkston Community Health Center

"This has made such a difference in the level of care we're able to provide patients as well as the education we're able to offer the students," said optometrist Fulya Anderson after receiving new equipment that allowed the Clarkston Center to preform better eye exams for the community.

A Tale of Two Clinics

Emory MD students get hands-on experience with licensed professionals while also serving citizens of Atlanta. "The ongoing commitment of many medical students and faculty to community engagement led to the creation and success of this curriculum," says course director Mary Jo Lechowicz, professor of hematology and medical oncology, who adds that they are moving away from terms like "volunteerism" and "service," which suggest a one-way street. "The clinic experience, like many others for students, is bi-directional."

Vaccinating Georgians

Moving beyond the bounds of traditional medical education, for the benefit of students and society, Emory M4s from the medical education elective taught their colleagues, supervised by Emory Infectious Disease fellows, at the COVID-19 vaccine site at Mercedes Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta. Medical students and faculty donated their time assisting vaccination efforts at Emory Healthcare Northlake Vaccine Center and the Georgia International Convention Center.

Where We Serve

Here are just a few of the projects our students, faculty, and staff take part in to benefit our community.

Emory University's Urban Health Initiative

Education and advocacy about health disparities in underserved communities in Metro Atlanta

Heel to Heal 5K

Raising money for numerous charities that provide medical care to the underserved

Emory Farmworker Project

Providing free care to over 1,500 farmworkers and their families in pop-up clinics

Student-run Clinics

Emory has a number of student-run clinics that serve the greater Atlanta community. These clinics provide an excellent opportunity for students to care for their underserved neighbors. Students who volunteer in these clinics gain hands-on experience delivering quality medical care to and advocating for patients without access to healthcare. Students learn innovative strategies to deliver culturally-sensitive, patient-centered care in low-resource settings. The clinics connect students with passionate physicians employed by Emory, the CDC, and other health care groups, who demonstrate the values of physician leadership, community involvement, and philanthropy.