Wright State University establishes mobile healthcare clinic

Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine has partnered with Premier Health to establish a mobile healthcare clinic called the Dayton Street Medicine project, which will provide services to individuals experiencing substance use disorders, thanks to a grant from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation. The street medicine effort is expected to get underway in early 2025.

According to an article on Wright State University’s website, Anna Murley Squibb, M.D., who serves as both the program director of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship at Wright State University and as the program director of substance use and addiction services at Premier Health, explained what street medicine is and who it is designed to help. She is quoted as saying that the effort will be useful for people who may find themselves “lost in the complexities of the health systems. We can’t meet their individual needs with the traditional models. Street medicine literally and figuratively meets patients where they are and partners in the community of agencies to support improving health and quality of life. The collaboration with the medical students and other Wright State students will allow future physicians and health care professionals to have experience in and hopefully consider careers advocating for marginalized populations.”

Squibb is organizing the project alongside Marietta Orlowski, Ph.D., who is a professor and chair of population and public health sciences, and Sydney Silverstein, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Center for Interventions, Treatment and Addictions Research.

Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine and Premier Health have a 30-year enhanced articulation agreement, which serves as the basis for this partnership. The two institutions will collaborate to provide care and treatments at the Dayton Dream Center, in addition to the mobile healthcare clinic services. Doctors, medical students, and fellows of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship will work in the Premier Health Mobile Clinic that will begin operation early this year. The types of services individuals will have access to via the street medicine project include primary care and preventative care services, case management, substance use screenings, and more. 

While providing a necessary service to the Dayton community, the mobile healthcare clinic also provides a unique training opportunity for Wright State University’s medical students. For now, only students involved in the Addiction Medicine Fellowship will take part, but it is planned that nursing and social work students will join the effort in the future. Fifty students will be involved in the Dayton Street Medicine project.

Silverstein noted that there is a high level of interest among Boonshoft School of Medicine students, and the reasons for the interest is the students’ compassion and empathy.

“A lot of [the students] will tell me, ‘I want to go be a doctor because I never had a doctor who looked like me growing up.’ They have a different sort of motivation, and this really fits the profile of the type of student that is conscientious, wants to do care work, sees the need and wants to meet that need. There are not many opportunities for that,” said Silverstein.

Participation in the project will give medical students the ability to experience providing care in a trauma-informed setting, as well as how to both recognize and address health issues related to substance use.

Boonshoft School of Medicine student Isabelle Fox said, “As someone who has been involved in various community initiatives and local research related to substance use and addiction medicine in the Dayton area. I think the street medicine program will be a great opportunity for medical students to grow in practicing clinical medicine with vulnerable populations, with emphasis on public health, social determinants of health and community engagement. Being able to do a rotation in street medicine will allow students to learn about the importance of preventive medicine and addressing gaps in access to health care while receiving medical training in an interdisciplinary manner.”

For more information about Wright State University, visit the school’s website.