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SMU students and faculty serve San Ysidro with free clinical services

Seventeen Samuel Merritt University (SMU) students and 5 faculty nurse practitioners undertook in March their 10th annual medical mission to San Ysidro, CA, located along the Mexican border.

The interdisciplinary team mission is to evaluate and treat foot and ankle conditions as well as conduct health screenings for diabetes and vascular disease in a clinic they set up at Centro Romero. The team also distributes donated shoes, socks, and orthotic inserts to the migrant community. Student participants are chosen by lottery to ensure that everyone who goes gains valuable clinical experience. For many, it is their first clinical experience with an underserved population in a different culture.

Over the past 10 years, SMU students have performed diagnostic evaluations on patients from young children to the elderly. California School of Podiatric Medicine students raise funds and collect donations to provision the mission.

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