Medical residents at the University of New Mexico will get training in delivering health care to people living on the street under a new federal grant.
The $2.5 million grant comes from the Health Resource and Services Administration, which supports health care access for vulnerable populations who are geographically isolated, especially those who are unhoused. The 5-year grant allows UNM to expand its existing Mobile Medical Team – street medicine – to include medical residents
UNM’s Dr. Sara Doorley said this funding allows them to build a coordinated system of care.
“It's a way to develop a really neat, sort of statewide healthcare delivery system that focuses on vulnerable patient populations [and] allows sort of connection with both rural and urban centers, and is really just going to sort of create this increased cohesion [and] system development to better care for our folks,” said Doorley.
Doorley said right now the small team just has enough capacity to identify high-need areas or individuals since Albuquerque is so large.
“We're always trying to find folks that maybe wouldn't make it through the night, who's sort of at such high risk for death because of homelessness and medical conditions that they need immediate sort of services,” Doorley said.
Doing this work for her and her team means developing relationships with the community. y That means they can deliver more episodic care, but also provide chronic condition care.
“So we're treating diabetes and high blood pressure, we're giving injections for like monthlong and psychiatric treatment. We're treating substance use,” Doorley explained. “And then I think finally, we're really trying to identify, what are those sorts of social conditions that are affecting health, and how are we sort of working with folks identifying resiliency strengths or pathways out of homelessness that we can support them into.”
UNM Vice President for Community Health Dr. Arthur Kaufman said this kind of hands-on training not only changes how future doctors practice, but encourages them to stay in New Mexico.
“So when they graduate, they can't consider practicing without this component, and we also know that once you get involved, you can't go back, because you see a different reality. So the provider then becomes an agent for policy change, which affects thousands of people,” Kaufman said.
Resident doctors who are interested will train at both the Indian Health Service Family Medicine residency in Shiprock and UNM’s programs in Albuquerque and will join mobile teams of doctors, medical assistants, and community health workers among those already working out in communities.
UNM is one out of 25 national programs to receive this grant.
This coverage is supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The University of New Mexico holds KUNM’s license, but we cover it like any other institution.
