KPSOM Community

Making a Difference in Healthcare, Where it’s Needed Most

Partnership with Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic in Los Angeles allows students to sharpen clinical skills through service

December 24, 2024

KPSOM student and faculty volunteers gather with volunteers and staff of the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic during a recent health fair.

For nearly sixty years, the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic has offered much-needed healthcare services to residents of underresourced neighborhoods in Silverlake, Echo Park, and nearby Los Angeles communities. Serving those who may lack insurance and have language barriers or other socioeconomic factors that limit their access to care, this welcoming space on Sunset Boulevard has been a mainstay in the local drive for health equity and community health. Today, through a partnership with the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine (KPSOM), the clinic is also a place where medical students receive valuable training on the front lines of health disparities through volunteer service.

“They bring tremendous energy,” said Teresa Padua, Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic Executive Director. “The medical students come in and they have this look on their faces that says, ‘these people need us, and we want to help.’”

In an effort originated by students from KPSOM’s Class of 2024, and subsequently assumed by members of the KPSOM Community Medicine Student Interest Group, health fairs are hosted by the clinic on a quarterly basis. These events are held on Saturdays, and walk-in patients are welcome to drop in for diabetes screenings, STI screenings, and a host of other common ailments and concerns without an appointment, free of charge. KPSOM students support the entire process of a patient visit–taking vital signs, taking blood pressure and blood sugar readings, assisting with diabetic foot exams, conducting initial patient consultations, conferring with attending physicians, and assisting with health education sessions to advise patients on healthy eating, diabetes management, and other related concerns such as access to Medi-Cal insurance or food stamps programs.

Other than a small number of paid staff, everyone working at the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic is a volunteer, including the physicians, residents and interns (many of whom are from Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center), and waiting room staff. The students give their time and do not receive academic credit for the experience, said Jason Gilbert, DO, KPSOM Clinical Instructor Clinical Science and adviser to the Community Medicine Interest Group.

Teresa Padua, Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic Executive Director (left) with KPSOM faculty members Dr. Chetan Gairola (center) and Dr. Jason Gilbert (right).

“Service to the community is one of the main reasons why many people go into medicine to begin with,” Gilbert said during a recent health fair. “There is also a mentorship component because the medical students get to meet pre-med student volunteers, so they get to communicate and meet people at different levels of training.

“We need more people in medicine who see healthcare as a basic, fundamental human right,” Gilbert added. “We’ve kind of lost track of that. This experience reminds you of that; this is the essence of why we do what we do.”

Many students said they are drawn to volunteer work at Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic because it aligns with their future goals as community medicine physicians.

“Ever since my undergrad time, I’ve been interested in volunteering in free clinics, both in Federally Qualified Health Centers and proper free clinics,” said student Victor Escobedo. “What I’ve liked about that experience is the chance to engage with patients in culturally appropriate care, especially when they’re in a situation where their background might make access to care more challenging, whether they are from out of the country, or maybe things at home aren’t so great. Just being able to meet patients here and give them the resources that other patients in well-resourced hospitals like Kaiser Permanente have, and then go above and beyond to hit that health equity [goal].”

Escobedo, who worked as a medical interpreter prior to medical school, said he is most passionate about helping patients from underserved communities like the one where he grew up. The Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic patients, he said, represent a “cultural melting pot” and are largely of Mexican and Latin American heritage. Many patients are wary about using the healthcare system and may have minimal prior experience with doctors. The health fairs offer an opportunity to spend more time with the patients and ask them questions about the social determinants, such as housing, job status, food security, and other issues that may be affecting their individual and family health.

KPSOM faculty member Dr. Jason Gilbert confers with students Sebastian Hurtado and Eliana Zuckernik at the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic. (Photo courtesy Dr. Chetan Gairola.)

“It’s not just your typical 15-minute doctor visit,” Escobedo said. “It’s about going above and beyond to ask the extra questions, make the connection, and not just to see them about their primary concern and get them out the door. There are no metrics here. It’s about taking care of the patients.”

In addition to the quarterly health fairs, KPSOM students also collaborate with the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic on pop-up clinics at community events, such as the annual Echo Park Lotus Festival and farmer’s markets. They also assist with food drives and toy drives that benefit the patients and their families. Some students have also helped teach a cooking and nutrition class for diabetic patients and their families.

Students from all levels of medical education are eligible to volunteer at the health fairs. At each event, there are typically 15 students plus two attending physicians and several residents and interns, Gilbert said. Because spots are limited, there is a waiting list for student volunteers.

KPSOM student Danah Younis, who volunteered at the health fair for the first time in October, said the experience provides a valuable contrast to the Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC), which takes place at well-resourced Kaiser Permanente medical centers, and involves interacting with patients who are more experienced in navigating the healthcare system. Unlike the Kaiser Permanente sites, the free clinic has no electronic medical record system, so the students and physicians there must learn to make accurate, clear, handwritten notations as well as reading analog patient histories, both essential skills, she added.

“In LIC, the physician, in most cases, has seen the patient before, and may have a relationship with the patient,” Younis said. “Here, the patients may see a different doctor every time they come in, which makes it challenging to get to know them, so we take time to study their history.”

Exterior of the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic in Los Angeles.

Noah Contreras, a co-leader of the Community Health Student Interest Group, said volunteering at the health fairs and the free clinic helps students better understand their own neighborhoods and the populations there. “You see different patients than at your LIC site, and you get more grounded in the community you’re serving,” he said. “Some [KPSOM] students live in different parts of Los Angeles, including right in the Silverlake and Echo Park area, and they may not necessarily be engaging with the patient population in [their neighborhoods]. This is a way to do that. I’m proud to have helped build this program and make it sustainable.”

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