Sparks Clinic

The Paul L. Foster School of Medicine’s Medical Student Run Clinic (MSRC) operates twice a month in Sparks, a community in far East El Paso of more than 8,000 without basic city services, including water, sewage, and trash pickup.

In addition to providing free primary health care services such as diagnostics, blood work and cancer screenings, the MSRC provides educational outreach in English and Spanish to increase awareness of and approaches to managing diseases and conditions that commonly affect the U.S.-Mexico border population.

Since its founding in 2013, the MSRC has received more than 1,465 patient visits. The clinic has not only gained the community’s trust, but it has become the primary source of health care to patients in this area.

The MSRC operates largely on outside funding. In July, for instance, the clinic provided 28 free clinical breast exams through a $7,500 American Breast Cancer Foundation grant and hopes to hold another mammogram drive soon if additional funding can be found.