Active citizenship is a part of the Tufts ethos. On a veterinary campus, you’d assume that all the volunteer work has to do with animals. Human-related volunteer work doesn’t seem on topic, but it certainly is. The health of the people in the community is equally important to us.
Cummings School Professors Organize Free Healthcare Clinic for Local Community
More than 350 patients received medical care in clinic led by Drs. Elizabeth and John Byrnes
“Active citizenship is a part of the Tufts ethos. On a veterinary campus, you’d assume that all the volunteer work has to do with animals. Human-related volunteer work doesn’t seem on topic, but it certainly is. The health of the people in the community is equally important to us,” says Dr. Elizabeth Byrnes, professor and associate chair in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.
This is the second free healthcare clinic that Dr. Byrnes and her husband, Dr. John Byrnes, adjunct research associate professor in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology at Cummings School, helped organize in partnership with Remote Area Medical (RAM). RAM is an organization that offers dental, vision, and medical care to those in need through pop-up clinics across the country. Several faculty members from Cummings School and the greater Tufts community volunteered alongside the Byrneses at the clinic.
In her day job, Dr. Elizabeth Byrnes is the principal investigator of Cummings School’s neuroscience lab and teaches physiology and neurology courses. Her lab focuses on the neural basis of behaviors, researching the effects of prenatal opioid exposure and opioid use prior to pregnancy. She says of her involvement with RAM, “All credit goes to my husband.”
In addition to his adjunct professorship at Cummings School, Dr. John Byrnes is a neuroscientist and mental health clinician who is starting new pharmaceutical companies to treat psychiatric diseases. He began volunteering with RAM seven years ago as a mental health clinician in Tennessee and later Ohio. He trained as a clinic medical lead in RAM’s “CORE” volunteer group. RAM clinics are organized by volunteers and funded by donations. As a member of the Board of Health in Ashland, Dr. Byrnes decided to start up RAM clinics locally.
Together, the Byrneses lead RAM’s local Community Host Group (CHG), which has volunteers in charge of running the logistics of the healthcare clinics, from hospitality to recruiting volunteers to fundraising. RAM provides the equipment for clinics free of charge.
The Byrneses organized the first RAM clinic in Framingham last year, serving 316 patients. They hosted the second clinic this past August—376 patients, including 57 children, registered for treatment during the weekend clinic.
“We provided free medical, dental, and vision services. We also helped patients enroll in MassHealth, administered numerous vaccines, including child vaccines to prepare for school, helped with applications for other benefits, such as SNAP, and provided referral service for medical follow-up as needed,” says Dr. John Byrnes.
During the clinic, patients received 532 services, including: 183 dental treatments (exams, cleanings, fillings, and extractions), 156 vision exams (with 158 sets of glasses distributed), and 193 medical treatments (general treatments, women’s health exams, and lab tests). Fifty-seven patients were recommended for follow- up care. The total value of all the clinical care was $211,633.
“It’s just so desperately needed. Despite living in a state with almost universal healthcare, people forget that dental and vision care is out of reach for many people,” says Dr. Elizabeth Byrnes. “It was incredible to see that many people get those services—parents, kids, everybody.”
CHGs organize a myriad of logistics and details to host a clinic, such as ensuring that there are plenty of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking translators on hand to help non-English-speaking patients. To run the clinic, the CHG recruited and oversaw 293 volunteers throughout the weekend, including a full day of set up, and two days of services, an estimated “volunteer time” value of $135,360.
The RAM clinic was held at Keefe Regional Technical High School in Framingham, Massachusetts. RAM volunteers arrived early on a Friday morning in August with all of the medical equipment. CHG volunteers spent the day transforming the high school into a clinic for the weekend. While the clinic opens its doors at 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning, patients can pull into the parking lot starting at midnight Friday.
Dr. Elizabeth Byrnes ran the parking lot, which is first come, first served for treatments, so patients often arrive the evening before to secure a ticket for a service. Medical tickets for treatments are unlimited, but dental and vision services can reach capacity. Depending on the number of dental bays and dentists working, RAM determines how many patients can be allotted over the day. Patients can receive a ticket for dental or vision and may return the following day for another ticket. One hundred and twenty dental tickets ran out by 10:00 a.m. Saturday. Vision tickets were fully passed out by noon.
Medical services were provided throughout the day Saturday and started again Sunday morning for a half-day clinic. Volunteers spent Sunday afternoon breaking down the equipment and cleaning up the school.
Running the clinic is a family affair for the Byrneses—their adult children helped to manage the parking lot and their niece created a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the event.
It’s also a family affair for Cummings School’s and the greater Tufts community. Joining Dr. Byrnes for parking lot duty was Dr. Fair Vassoler, associate professor in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology and graduate biomedical sciences member of the Neuroscience Program at Cummings School.
“The work that the RAM clinic performs is incredibly important. Many individuals in our own community are in serious need of medical and dental support. On a personal level, my husband immigrated here from Brazil, and we have many connections in the Brazilian community. Framingham has a large Brazilian population, and indeed a large immigrant population, increasing the healthcare needs,” says Dr. Vassoler, who translated for Portuguese-speaking patients.
Before receiving services, patients checked in for registration with Dr. Joyce Knoll, associate professor in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology at Cummings School. She first learned about RAM six years ago when a representative presented on campus. She was inspired to volunteer at a RAM clinic in Tennessee.
“I always hoped that someone would organize something similar in Massachusetts. I was thrilled when I learned that Jay and Liz Byrnes were making it happen,” says Dr. Knoll. “This is my third clinic, and every time, I am blown away by the extent of the healthcare services provided. I saw entire families come through the clinic, including some people with serious medical issues, some needing tooth fillings and extractions, and school children needing glasses.”
In addition to Cummings School faculty, Dr. Thomas Stopka, professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, volunteered as a Spanish translator at the clinic. Dr. Ronald Perry, director of the International Student Program and professor in Comprehensive Care at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, also attended the clinic and served as the dental lead, accompanied by several of his students.
“I know that Tufts faculty are very busy with their day-to-day responsibilities, and they all likely have much going on at home as well. So it means a lot that we had some dedicated individuals who took time out of their lives for this event. It is no small commitment and I think this reflects a genuine sense of compassion. I’m very grateful for all of the faculty’s efforts,” says Dr. John Byrnes.
Prior to the actual event, much groundwork had to be accomplished to make it all happen. A RAM clinic costs approximately $25,000—and provides more than $100,000 in actual care. Dr. Elizabeth Byrnes spearheaded fundraising efforts, submitting grant applications to numerous organizations and soliciting donations. Donors included Middlesex Savings Bank, Needham Bank, and generous individuals. The group also received support from the City of Framingham, Town of Ashland, Metrowest Health Foundation, MetroWest Medical Center, Community Foundation for Metrowest, and Keefe Technical High School.
“While RAM has the equipment and the organizational skills, they rely on the local community to set up each of their clinics,” says Dr. Knoll. “It took an enormous amount of work for Jay and Liz to find a large enough location and organize the vast team of volunteer healthcare providers, translators, and general staff members. They also had to raise funds to cover housing for the RAM personnel and food for all the volunteers. Ultimately, their efforts resulted in an enormous service to the community. I hope more Cummings School faculty and staff, as well as Tufts MDs and dentists, get involved next year—it is a highly rewarding experience.”
Dr. Elizabeth Byrnes agrees, “It was a great way to spend a weekend in August.”
The Byrneses would like to continue to host the clinic annually.
“We live in a state with some of the best healthcare in the country, and therefore it can be easy to assume that most residents have their medical, dental, and vision needs met,” says Dr. John Byrnes. “But a clinic like this can very quickly reveal that this is not the case. A free clinic can fill a gap for so many people. We are happy to be able to do this.”