About Us

Introduction • Mission • History • Acknowledgements

Introduction

Formerly known as the Tully Road Free Clinic, the Pacific Free Clinic (PFC) is a student-run clinic opening in May of 2003. It is located in East San Jose, an area with a high population of medically underserved individuals and families.

The Pacific Free Clinic was established by students at the Stanford University School of Medicine to address the unmet health care needs of immigrants with limited English proficiency by offering free health care services and education in a linguistically and culturally appropriate manner. Services offered include primary outpatient care, health screenings, basic medications, and referrals. The operations model is based largely on that of the Arbor Free Clinic; we have undergraduate, preclinical and clinical medical students, and MD volunteers working alongside one another to provide acute care. Because there is a high proportion of Vietnamese immigrants, we have recruited a number of bilingual undergraduates who will serve as both interpreters and patient advocates.

Mission Statement and Goals

  1. To provide free health care services to the medically uninsured, particularly immigrants with low English proficiency.
  2. To provide students an opportunity to gain experience in community and culturally competent medicine and to learn about the challenges of practicing with a minority patient population.

The History of Pacific Free Clinic

While conducting community health screenings at Bay Area Asian cultural events, Stanford Medical Students discovered a significant population of API patients in San Jose who lack regular healthcare because of low income and/or low English proficiency. Stanford Medical School's Arbor Free Clinic, a largely student-run clinic in Menlo Park that serves over 1,000 patients a year, has been in operation for more than a decade. Many members of our team were also involved in the management of Arbor Free Clinic. Armed with that experience, the students conceived of starting a free clinic with Asian translation services in San Jose.

Discussions with numerous community-based organizations and local health care providers revealed a strong support and need for a free clinic serving API immigrants. Discussions with Stanford Medical School faculty revealed an interest in using Pacific Free Clinic as a vehicle for training in cultural competency and research in minority and community health.

Acknowledgements

The Pacific Free Clinic would like to thank the following sources for their grants and gifts: