CIR Doctors Hold Community Clinic on MLK Day

New Mexico CIR members answered President-elect Obama’s call to service on Martin Luther King Weekend by organizing a volunteer clinic at an Albuquerque community center.

Dr. Sheila Modi, a PGY 2 in Internal Medicine, Dr. Noah Zuker, a PGY 3 in Surgery, and Dr. Elizabeth Burpee, CIR Secretary-Treasurer, were joined by an attending physician, a CIR staff member and a community volunteer as they treated uninsured patients on Martin Luther King Day, January 19.

The community center, which is in the neighborhood known as Albuquerque’s “war zone” because of its level of violence and poverty, operates a food bank and sliding-scale health clinic. Many visitors to the center are newly-arrived immigrants who don’t have access to other services.

The team of volunteers saw a dozen patients and referred several people to specialty clinics. The doctors also delivered a station-wagon full of toys and clothes for the food bank.