Survey of CommunityCare Clinics Providers: Sustaining Provider Satisfaction with Feedback for Optimal Clinic Operation

Abstract

• Introduction:  Student-run free health clinics serve to provide free medical care for impoverished community members while also being an important educational resource for medical students.  CommunityCare Clinics (CCC) is a collection of three student-run free clinics operated by students at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio.  Clinics require multidisciplinary staffing of up to 4-6 providers per clinic.  This study seeks to assess provider satisfaction in order to maintain a provider roster and generate results that can be adapted nationwide.  
• Methods: An IRB-exempt anonymous survey was created for all providers who have attended clinic within the past calendar year.  The 10 question survey elicited a provider’s perspective on all aspects of volunteering and their experience with CCC.
• Results: A total of 11 providers responded to the survey.  According to the survey, interprofessional student teams were unanimously seen as beneficial to enhancing the clinic experience.  Email was the preferred method of communication, and not a single provider thought that communication was too frequent.  Care for a vulnerable patient population and interaction with students were cited as the biggest reasons for volunteering.
• Discussion: The most effective way to ensure that providers continue returning to the Clinics is to keep them operating efficiently, so as to not waste any of the providers’ valuable time.  Open communication between providers and scheduling teams created an atmosphere of content providers and a fully staffed clinic.