Community Service

There are numerous opportunities for community service for interested residents within the organization and throughout the Charlotte region.  A few community service opportunities that we would like to highlight include:

PATCH (Propelling Adolescents to Careers in Healthcare) Program:

The PATCH program was founded by three passionate medical students in 2014 to expose under-represented minority high school students to various careers in healthcare.  High school students accepted into the program have an opportunity to shadow residents and medical students in the hospital on nine consecutive Saturdays throughout the winter.  Our residents have an opportunity to serve as a role model, provide mentorship, and encourage these talented students to pursue a health-related career.  This innovative program received an Excellence in Health Care Award from the Charlotte Business Journal in 2015.

Heart of a Champion:

Our residents have an opportunity to volunteer at the “Heart of a Champion Day” every spring.  Heart of a Champion is a free sports-specific health screening and educational program for high school student athletes.  The screenings include a review of the athlete's medical history, a sports-specific medical and musculoskeletal exam, a heart exam, and a vision test.  The program is unique because of the heart screening in which all student athletes receive an electrocardiogram (EKG).  In addition, the educational program provides information and intervention early when habits of healthy living can be set or modified and when young student-athletes are motivated to respond.

Charlotte Rebound Clinic:

Charlotte Rebound Behavioral Health (a branch of the Charlotte Rescue Mission) is a well-established local organization that offers comprehensive counseling and care for numerous patients and families impacted by chemical dependency and mental illness.  The Rebound program houses patients for up to one year while they attend intensive substance abuse counseling and vocational rehab.  In 2016, two of our PGY-3 residents, Dr. Linsey Spence and Dr. Daphne Jones, recognized the critical need for on-site medical services for these high-risk patients that often have very poor access to routine medical care outside of the emergency room.  Thus, they partnered with the leaders of Charlotte Rebound Behavioral Health to begin a free medical clinic on their campus approximately once per month. 

Each monthly on-site clinic accommodates 10-12 patients in an evening.  Our Internal Medicine residents have embraced the opportunity to volunteer at the clinic, and the partnership already has made an impact in the lives of the patients of Charlotte Rebound.