Students to host medical clinics for the homeless

Students at Sam Houston State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in Conroe are giving back to the community with a series of free medical clinics for the homeless community.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, osteopathic students will be offering free basic medical services to the homeless community at the Salvation Army shelter in Conroe at 304 Avenue E.

“Our students are incredibly service-minded,” said Shannon Jimenez, chairman of primary care and clinical medicine at the College of Osteopathic Medicine. “They’ve been looking for this opportunity since they got here, really. COVID put a damper on quite a few things but just about as soon as our deal allowed us to be able to do these kinds of things, we started trying to set it up.”

The College of Osteopathic Medicine, which welcomed its first class in August, opened its new campus in Conroe this school year with a class of 75 students. In the next two years, the college expects to double that number to 150 to meet its full capacity.

Over the next five years, Jimenez said the school hopes to be able to open a mobile clinic with basic medical services like COVID screening, vision and hearing screenings, taking vitals, cholesterol and blood sugar tests, and taking height and weight.