Frontera de Salud

FRONTERA DE SALUD has established a partnership with the Brownsville Community Health Center in Brownsville, Texas where Frontera volunteers operate weekend clinics to provide examinations and physician referrals; cancer, diabetes and hypertension screenings; and focused healthcare counseling.

GCAPN Members Patricia Crane, Sandra Petersen, and Elizabeth Reifsnider participate in FRONTERA DE SALUD activities once a month as faculty from UTMB for nursing, medical and allied health professions students. In addition, in cooperation with community outreach programs in Cameron Park, an impoverished community on the outskirts of Brownsville, Frontera volunteers offer services beyond the usual scope of clinical practice, e.g. health maintenance classes, domestic violence screening and counseling, men’s health discussion groups, pre-natal workshops, etc.

These efforts reflect Frontera’s determination to encourage the students’ appreciation of all aspects of the human experience, emphasizing the rich interplay of mind, body and spirit as these affect health. Through such experience, Frontera nurtures insight and understanding and assists students in building the kind of sincere and sympathetic relationships patients expect of ‘good’ care-givers.

The impact of Frontera is also expanding to various other communities across South Texas and myriad opportunities exist for leadership and healthcare provider roles in Frontera de Salud. http://www.utmb.edu/Frontera/about.asp