The Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine engages our students in projects and programs that improve the health of our communities and promote the appreciation for the social role and responsibility of practicing physicians. As medicine is a service profession, our faculty, students and staff take the responsibility of caring for and caring about our community very seriously. We foster an environment that values and supports activities that benefit the community and we are extremely proud of the fact that community service is a priority for our faculty, students and staff.

The spirit of our service continues to expand and currently includes:

• Healthcare Careers Outreach Program (HCOP) – this pipeline program targets socioeconomically disadvantaged and minority middle and high school students in Palm Beach County. The program is designed to recruit young students into the field of medicine and to provide them with the tools necessary to excel in college, medical school, and other post-graduate training. The goals of HCOP are to provide enriched instruction related to medical education and health sciences; provide exposure to more than 50 healthcare careers through clinical shadowing and other classroom activities; provide parents and students with instruction in financial literacy; and publish and disseminate a comprehensive medical academy curriculum for grades 7 through 12 that can be used in any middle or high school.

• Senior Aging and Geriatrics Educator Mentor Program (SAGE) – medical, nursing and social work students from FAU participated in the SAGE program last spring. This innovative, new program with Abbey Delray and Abbey Delray South included hands-on experience for these students to learn about aging and geriatrics in an interdisciplinary team framework. Forty residents aged 65 and older of the Abbey Delray facilities served as mentors for the students sharing extensive wisdom about aging.

• Spirit of Giving Network – students in the inaugural class of the College of Medicine are working with eight not-for-profit groups in south Palm Beach and North Broward counties to improve the lives of children, families and individuals. The organizations, which are part of the Spirit of Giving Network include: Palm Beach School of Autism; Louis & Anne Green Memory & Wellness Center at FAU; Tomorrow’s Rainbow; AACY Caregiving Youth; KidSafe Foundation, Twin Palms, Caridad Center and the Guatemalan-Maya Center.

• Caridad Center – Faculty and medical students from the College of Medicine provide voluntary services to patients from the Caridad Clinic in Boynton Beach. The Caridad Clinic operates free medical and dental clinics that provide vital health services to the uninsured, working poor families of Palm Beach County.

• Palm Beach County Health Department – the College of Medicine is working with the Palm Beach County Health Department, and medical students in groups of four accompany a full-time College of Medicine faculty member every week on Mondays and Wednesdays to see patients in three separate clinics within Palm Beach County.