So, how does the entire clinic actually function?
In actuality, BUCOP is just one segment of an overall greater clinic. This clinic, located in a church in east-central Indianapolis, is entirely multi-disciplinary. At this clinic, there are teams of nurses, medical doctors, medical students, social workers, law students, PT/OT students, pharmacy volunteers (us), volunteers from Timmy Global Health, etc. This is a primarily student-run clinic for student learning and development, but licensed medical professionals are at the clinic every Saturday as well. Occasionally, there are “guest workers” that appear from time-to-time and can offer services like dental work, vision services, etc.
To get an idea of how the clinic works, let’s pretend you’re a patient at the clinic. You walk into the the doors of the church where this clinic is located, and you’re greeted at the door with open arms. Like you would do at a doctor’s office, you would then check-in at the front desk, which in our case is operated by Timmy Global Health. After you check-in, you are seated in a waiting area until you are called out by either a nurse or a social worker. After dealing with nurses and getting vitals checked and/or talking with social workers in different areas of the church, you then are commonly taken to see the medical staff, which includes fully-licensed doctors, medical residents, medical students, and P4 MTC’s. Depending on your situation, you may spend time with law students, PT/OT students, dentistry students, a prolonged amount of time with social work, etc. After this visit is made and you receive your care, you typically make your last stop at the pharmacy to get your medications and receive prescription counseling. However, occasionally, you might come solely for prescription refills. In this case, you would check-in with Timmy Global Health and then go to straight to the pharmacy area.
Partners that help us at the Indiana University / Butler University Student Outreach Clinic:
- Indiana University School of Medicine
- Indiana University School of Social Work
- Indiana University School of Nursing
- Indiana University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
- Robert H. McKinney School of Law at Indiana University
- Indiana University School of Dentistry
- Butler University Community Outreach Pharmacy
- Marian University Nursing
- University of Indianapolis Krannert School of Physical Therapy
- Timmy Global Health at IUPUI
Technically, our beloved BUCOP is a physician-controlled dispensary. It is not a fully-licensed pharmacy. We only fill prescriptions from the medical staff at the clinic and we do not fill outside prescriptions. For a dispensary of our magnitude, we actually have a very extensive formulary. Although it’s already big, we are currently in the process of expanding it to make our dispensary even more helpful. Whenever you come to volunteer with us, expect to be an integral part of the pharmacy team but also expect to be a integral part of the clinic team at large.