More than 10,000 asylum-seeking migrants have arrived in Chicago since last August. Their journeys have been long and often dangerous, spanning multiple countries with little or no access to health care.
“We are medical students who are volunteering with attending and resident physicians who are also donating their time to go to the police stations and provide medical care,” Izquierdo said. “So, under the physician supervision, medical students who are bilingual like myself and have certification to interpret are going talking to patients, triaging, and then taking these cases to talk to the physicians on staff.
“They get their screening for public health disease … but also immediate medical care and looking to establish preventative care to keep them from progressing diseases and fulfill the immediate needs,” Luna said. “And here, the next thing that happens is pretty much the same. We go again under that scrutiny for public health threats, diseases, communicable diseases and the other most important thing, or as equally as important, is immediate health care.