Letter from the Editor: Introducing The Free Clinic Research Collective

Elizabeth Christine Lee

Elizabeth Christine Lee Georgetown University School of Medicine

Abstract

From the Editor's Desk: A letter from the inaugural Associate Editor. Â

After a year spent working on this service project, I welcome you to the first issue ofÂ The Free Clinic Research Collective (FCRC), a peer-reviewed open access journal aimed at addressing the dearth of publications on student-run free clinics and promoting thoughtful reflection on free clinic service-learning experiences in a centralized forum. Â In my Editor's letter, I describe the main goals of FCRC, express my appreciation to the individuals who contributed to the journal's formation, and encourage all free clinic volunteers to become involved with this national collective. Â From the inception of the journal's policies to the release of the first issue, it has been a privilege to serve as the inaugural FCRC Associate Editor. Â I look forward to continuing to read about your free clinic accomplishments and insights in future FCRC issues.

Author Biography

Elizabeth Christine Lee, Georgetown University School of Medicine

Elizabeth Christine Lee is a medical student at Georgetown University School of Medicine. She graduated summa cum laude with departmental honors from The George Washington University with a B.S. in Biology. During her college career, she studied amylin cytotoxicity in type II diabetes as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Research Fellow. Before entering medical school, she worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a Postbaccalaureate Research Fellow, studying natural killer cell signaling at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and cancer immunotherapy at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). She also broadened her knowledge on health disparities through the NIH Academy Health Disparities Program and volunteered with Mobile Medical Care. As a medical student, she developed an interest in rare diseases through her work with the NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Program. She also serves as a Child Assessment Team member at Georgetown's student-run free clinic, the HOYA Clinic.Â She has been a member of The Medical Student Press since December 2014 and was appointed as the inaugural Associate Editor of The Free Clinic Research Collective. Her motto in life is, "Never lose your ability to smile even through dark times."