Susan Molina, a medical student, became interested in mobile health for the unique opportunity to bring healthcare services to communities in need.
"Transportation, difficulty arranging times for visiting healthcare facilities, and other barriers keep many individuals from seeking timely and necessary medical care," said Molina. "The Mobile Health Initiative helps bridge a gap in some of these barriers by bringing services to people who most need it."
Molina chose to volunteer with the Mobile Health Initiative (MHI) for the chance to work closely with different communities in the larger Minnesota area.
"Especially, as a Latinx medical student, I hoped to work closely with Latinx and other Spanish-speaking communities," she said. "Growing up in a Spanish speaking household and seeing the impact of language barriers on my own family's health, I hoped to become part of the cohort of Spanish-speaking volunteers to facilitate providing medical care to individuals in need."
Molina says through volunteering for MHI, she hoped to learn more about the importance of community assets and how to use individual communities' strengths to better inform the work MHI does.
"I think that by collaborating with communities themselves, we can learn a lot about what their needs are and how to best aid them," said Molina.
Molina added that she's had a wonderful time volunteering with the MHI thus far. "Every event I have attended has left me with a great feeling of gratitude for the University community that comes together to put on these events, but also gratitude for the communities that open their doors to us and allow us to come in and learn from them. As a volunteer, I have had the chance to speak with a variety of patients to better understand what their lives look like and how they feel the MHI can better serve them," she said.
As a fourth year medical student, Molina will apply for the Match this upcoming year and hopes to match into a pediatrics program.
"I am so excited to work with young children and adolescents to promote healthy living, primary prevention and help guide the next generation," said Molina.
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