About Us

OVERVIEW

The Clinica is a collaboration between UCSF and SFSU students and faculty and community physicians. We provide free medical services and health promotion efforts to impoverished Latino immigrants

HISTORY

Clínica Martín-Baró was created and established by two SFSU alumni, Dr. Caro Monico and Dr. Zoel Quinonez, former students of Professor Felix Kury. Two years after they received their undergraduate degrees, Monico and Quinonez began forming the organization with Kury in 2005 as they were completing medical school at UCSF. “The idea was born between the two of them when they were at UCSF,” said Professor Kury. “Later the three of us began working together.” Since Monico and Quinonez were attending UCSF when they started Clínica, the organization’s volunteers consist of SFSU students, UCSF medical students, and doctors affiliated with UCSF who oversee all of the medical students’ work.

According to Professor Kury, the commitment and dedicatoin among the volunteers has grown over the years because the student volunteers have the power to make their own decisions and do something that they have wanted to do their entire lives: “People want to be a part of something bigger than them selves,” said Professor Kury.

WHO IS IGNACIO MARTIN-BARO?

  • Spanish-born Jesuit priest trained in psychology at the University of Chicago.
  • Assassinated Nov 16th, 1989 by the Salvadorian government-sponsored death squads for aligning himself with the Salvadoran people in their collective resistance to oppression and denunciation of the indiscriminate killing of civilians during the 12-year Civil War in El Salvador.
  • He searched for ways to further integrate his political commitment into his professional work and recognized the need to transform & redirect academia to fulfill its potential to serve as a tool for those resisting oppression and trying to transform the conditions of their lives.
  • Martin-Baro reclaimed the concept of “awareness-raising” and personal transformation to redirect one’s own human conscience to have greater comprehension of social surroundings and personal identity.
  • He was a central figure in efforts to establish an international network of individuals and organizations working on problems of human rights and mental health.
  • Before his death, he had made plans to open a health clinic.

OUR MISSION

Inadequate health care coverage prevents the appropriate promotion and maintaining of health in underserved communities such as that of San Francisco’s Mission District. Our mission is to provide access to free and linguistically accommodating health care to the medically underserved and economically disadvantaged Spanish-speaking community of the Mission district of San Francisco. Through a medical and undergraduate student-run clinic, we aim to also provide an educational environment that facilitates clinical and community outreach experiences to those who seek to provide health care to the underserved.

CLINICA SERVICES

  • Outpatient primary care services at no cost
  • Free Laboratory Services
  • Free Medications
  • Referrals
  • Individualized help navigating the referral system
  • On-Site Health Education: lifestyle/dietary modification, cancer screening, smoking cessation, chronic disease management & prevention including hypertension, diabetes & hyperlipidemia

STRUCTURE OF CLINICA

  • Open every Saturday (except 2 Saturdays during the Holiday Season)
  • Located at 3013 24th St, between 24th and Balmy St. in the Mission Neighborhood Centers building
  • 4 medical exam rooms
  • Anticipated number of patients: 8-10
  • Undergraduates: 10-12
  • Medical Students: 3-4 (one student/exam room)
  • Preceptor: 1-2
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