Lighthouse Free Medical Clinic

It is managed and funded through the work of Jacobs School medical students at the Community Health Center of Buffalo.

The clinic also involves numerous volunteers, including Jacobs School medical students, Allied Health professionals, medical residents, and faculty-physicians from the local community.

William Blymire, MD, serves as the clinic’s main faculty adviser.

Medical students and UB students in other professional programs help to address unmet health needs in this medically underserved community. The services they provide include:

• physicals
• sick visits
• referrals
• dermatological examinations
• gynecological examinations, including PAP smears and birth control education
• screenings for chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension
• support for social and economic problems
• counseling and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV
• nutrition counseling
• health insurance information/enrollment assistance

Taking a holistic approach to health care and social needs, the medical students work as part of an interdisciplinary team that includes the local health department and UB students preparing to be dietitians, social workers, dentists, pharmacists, and public health workers. 

The clinic’s story began in 1998, when two first-year medical students, Richard Newell and Gerard Silva, decided to make a difference.

“We thought we were very blessed to be as well off as we were. But in the community right outside the medical school we saw a lot of poverty and a lot of need,” says Newell.

Their idea come to fruition in 2001 when the clinic opened in the basement of Resurrection Lutheran Church at Genesee and Doat streets. It has since relocated to the The Community Health Center of Buffalo (CHCB) located at 34 Benwood Avenue. It has participated in multiple community events, including the Juneteenth Festival, Lorenzo Alexander’s ACES Community Wellness and STEM Festival, and the UB Chapter SNMA hosted Health Fair.

The Lighthouse Clinic and its participants have been honored with numerous awards, including the following:

• AIDS Plus Fund of WNY Grant for HIV Rapid Testing (2019)
• GA-1625: Health foundation for Western and Central NY (2018)
• Daniel R. Acker Community Service Award - Buffalo NAACP (2013)
• Medical Student Award of Excellence for Promoting Inclusion and Cultural Diversity (2013)
• American Medical Association Foundation Minority Scholars Award (2011 and 2012)
• Shooting Star Award - GROUP Ministries Community Wellness Project (2012)
• American Medical Association Foundation grant for a preventive health project to address obesity (2011)

Medical students from all class years are encouraged to volunteer.

Email lighthouse.volunteer@gmail.com for more information.