'We want to take care of our community': Street medicine program brings foot clinic to The Landing - Rochester Post Bulletin

ROCHESTER – When Zhenya Knyazhanskaya was gearing up to be the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine successful Rochester past year, she repeatedly heard comments astir however Rochester isn’t the champion spot to survey if she wanted to enactment with underserved and underprivileged populations.

“You perceive that messaging conscionable because, you know, Rochester is not L.A.,” she said. “Rochester is not New York, oregon Chicago.”

Knyazhanskaya came to Rochester with that thought successful mind, and she thought she’d person to prosecute a antithetic path.

Then Zumbro Valley Medical Society started its thoroughfare medicine inaugural past year. The programme includes an optional elective for aesculapian students to enactment with agencies serving radical experiencing homelessness and springiness students the accidental to larn ways to bring wellness attraction retired of a session to underserved populations.

Knyazhanskaya participated successful the programme during its archetypal year.

“I loved it. I thought it was an incredibly important happening that we're doing,” she said of her acquisition past year. “This is what I wanted to do. I came to Mayo due to the fact that it’s wonderful, but I did privation to enactment with underprivileged populations arsenic well. So [the elective] was benignant of a surprise, honestly, to me.”

Zumbro Valley Medical Society enforcement manager Beth Kangas said launching specialized clinics astatine assemblage organizations helping unhoused radical was discussed during the thoroughfare medicine program’s archetypal twelvemonth but didn’t hap due to the fact that they were learning however to run specified a program.

The thought of clinics resurfaced astir 3 months agone during a gathering with The Landing, the Rochester-based enactment that provides enactment to radical experiencing homelessness.

And connected Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, aesculapian students participating successful the thoroughfare medicine inaugural gathered astatine The Landing to supply ft attraction to visitors. People received ft soaks and attraction and caller socks and shoes.

A Rochester Area Foundation Fall 2022 Better Communities assistance allowed ZVMS to bargain 173 pairs of shoes, Kangas said. Socks were donated by Hippy Feet, a Minneapolis-based institution that serves younker experiencing homelessness.

Dan Fifield, the co-founder of The Landing, said the session is the cleanable illustration of what his enactment wants to bash for the community.

“We person a feline that hasn't had his boots disconnected successful 2 weeks, and his feet were horrible. That's their main mode of transportation. [Their feet] are the astir important happening connected their body, if you will,” helium said. “It's precisely what we privation to do. We privation to instrumentality attraction of our community. We privation to springiness back, and we're conscionable excited to beryllium that vas here.”

For Knyazhanskaya and different aesculapian students participating successful the thoroughfare medicine initiative, the session allowed them to dive close into caring for those who request it most.

“It's a large opportunity, a large privilege and truly humbling, each astatine once,” she said. “This is thing that we truly don't get arsenic an acquisition successful the classroom. We've been successful lectures, we've been studying, looking astatine textbooks, looking astatine flashcards, and that's each great. But it's not the aforesaid arsenic being virtually beneath a idiosyncratic arsenic they're soaking their feet and telling you their beingness story, telling you each of their aesculapian problems.

“That's truly humbling to beryllium successful that position. And you mightiness deliberation of yourself arsenic the smartest med pupil successful the world, but, really, what it comes down to successful the extremity is quality enactment and empathy. That's it. And you can't get that from a textbook.”

Fifield hopes much clinics are successful the aboriginal for The Landing and the thoroughfare medicine program. A imaginable ophthalmology session was discussed a fewer times Saturday.

“I deliberation that’s 1 of the much breathtaking things,” helium said. “It’s conscionable the things that we tin proceed to bash to help.”