Sylvia Paulsen stopped by a pop-up clinic set up on the grounds of Ali’i Beach Park in Haleʻiwa on Thursday, thinking the visit would be a quick in and out. Just a couple of inhalers to help with asthma made worse by the humidity that accompanied the Kona low storm.
It turns out that it wasn’t as easy and fast for the 85-year-old as a visit to Matsumoto’s Shave Ice nearby, even though parking was plentiful and there was no waiting thanks to a full staff of student doctors from the John A. Burns School of Medicine.
Two mobile clinic vans filled with supplies for wound care and a limited supply of medications parked next to several tables set up under yellow tents. Visits there were structured much like a visit to a doctor’s office, too, minus any available on-site lab work or other diagnostic tests.
But since the student doctors did not have a patient’s electronic health history available, they had to ask questions — a lot of them.
For Paulsen, it ranged from chronic conditions to current medications, from allergies to surgeries.
Other patients came for mild respiratory issues like Paulsen’s, but also muscle and joint pain, skin injuries, and stomach issues with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Some felt certain they had been exposed to noxious material and wanted to get checked out.
Beyond their flood-related ailments, the only reminders that the area was ravaged by torrential rainfall were large potholes filled with water.
The mobile clinic is usually used in conjunction with a homeless outreach program founded in 2005 by Dr. Jill Omori, the medical school’s education director. By mid-week several dozen patients had been seen.
The Queen’s Medical Center provided another tent for psychological and social services concerns.
The student doctors are planning to work in a variety of specialties, from general surgery to obstetrics and gynecology. Several have their eye on internal medicine, and at least one is planning on entering the emerging field of medical pediatrics, which is more common on the East Coast.
Student doctor Michelle Kimura plans to be a general surgeon. She grew up on Oʻahu and also considered law school as a Villanova undergraduate. Either profession was “finding a way to be of service to my community,” she said.
The pop-up clinic started Monday and plans to stay open for Haleʻiwa and Waialua residents through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.
Civil Beat’s community health coverage is supported in part by the Atherton Family Foundation.
