For more than a decade, Open Arms Free Clinic has served residents of Walworth County, providing health and wellness services to uninsured, low income and underserved populations of the area. Today, the clinic partners with Gateway Technical College’s health care programs to create service learning opportunities for students.
“We have held community events where we provide free COVID-19 vaccines for vulnerable populations. Gateway faculty bring their nursing students to assist, and those students who come always leave wanting to get involved in our mission,” says clinic executive director Sara Nichols.
“Students gain real-world experience, and we get the help we need to support our community and our patients. For that, we’re grateful for the partnership.”
Open Arms Free Clinic offers an ever-expanding list of services to the community, ranging from comprehensive primary and specialty care to dentistry, behavioral health, vision and more. This provides Gateway students with a unique integrative care service learning experience.
“We want the health care workers of the future to have a compassionate core value.By providing a clinical environment to allow students to practice this, we are hopeful for them to understand the human experience and to be able to foster that compassionate relationship with patients. With Gateway students, because they’ve seen all our departments in action, they’re 100 percent ready to jump in and help with anything we need,” says Sara.
“We work with Gateway Technical College to get the health care workers of tomorrow where they’re going professionally – we enjoy helping them along that journey.”
Gateway’s student population comes with qualities that make that journey a joy for Sara and Open Arms Free Clinic.
“Gateway students are curious. They want to see how things work. They want to take the technical skills they’ve learned in class and use them. It’s been a very positive experience,” says Sara.
“And our relationship with those students starts with Gateway faculty, who champion their students and get us excited about working with them in a real-world setting like here at Open Arms Free Clinic. It really takes that great faculty to drive a service learning program relationship, like what we have with Gateway Technical College.”
Sara and Open Arms Free Clinic appreciate the relationship with Gateway, and she looks forward to expanding this collaboration.
“Gateway makes this relationship easy. It’s so collaborative and it’s a way for both parties to meet their objectives. It’s very positive, and we look forward to getting more programs involved here in the near future.”