Cass Clinic Policies for 2007-08

Changes from Last Month Highlighted

Last Updated: 05/26/2008

General

1. Always act in a professional manner toward, patients, staff, attendings, and other students.
2. Bring any diagnostic equipment that you have such as stethoscopes, pen lights, BP cuffs, otoscopes, etc. Equipment you don't have will be provided.
3. Please dress appropriately.  We strive to create an environment that patients off the street feel comfortable in. No clothing with frayed edges, tears, or holes in it, no shorts, no sandals, and no white coats please. T-shirts are ok.
4. Please convey any concerns to the coordinators.  We are always happy to hear you input.

More Detailed Stuff

1. Sign in at the front desk.
2. Every patient visit must be documented by a SOAP note in the format specified by SOAP Note Instructions and Checklist. Your SOAP notes may be audited by a coordinator with any discrepancies brought to your attention. Copies will be available to you at the clinic for reference.
3. Give care kit supplies as requested and keep quantities of things given reasonable. Don't give care kit supplies to Mariner's Inn patients since they get all this stuff at their facility.
4. Always ask a coordinator before giving Mariner's Inn patients anything other than vitamins, unless you are directed to do so by Dr. Costea.
5. Don't do any diabetic testing. If you think it may be indicated see a coordinator. In general it won't be done unless the patient is diabetic, has an uncontrolled blood sugar history, and has been fasting. PLEASE don't ask the patient, "You haven't had anything to eat or drink in 8 hours, right?" instead ask something like, "What did you have for breakfast?" so we can get a more truthful answer.

Safety

1. Do not transport patients in your vehicle under ANY circumstance.
2. If you receive a needle-stick or any other kind of injury, even a scratch, don't let the patient leave and notify a coordinator immediately.
3. If a patient discloses that they have any blood-borne diseases, red slashes should be placed over their name on the front of their patient card and the doctor should be notified.  If the patient has AIDS, do not write it down in their medical record due to legal liability issues.  With other blood-borne diseases, make a note in the past medical history. 
4. If you plan on driving to the clinic, please be familiar with the WSU Police Auto Crime Prevention Tips
5. You may park in the Cass Clinic parking lot if it is open.

Schedule

1. Medical school, physician assistant school, and undergraduate students of other institutions may sign up.
2. First-time volunteers are to arrive no later than 9:15 AM for orientation. Everyone else please arrive no later than 9:25 AM. Patients are seen from 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM. Please don't be late.
3. You may sign up for multiple shifts. Click on "Schedule" of the menu bar to sign up.
4. Signup sheets will be posted on the Cass Clinic webpage at 8AM on the last Monday on each month. You must sign-up and be scheduled before coming in -- walk in volunteers are not allowed. Only MS3+ may walk in, but are encouraged to sign up so we know if we need to recruit MS3+ volunteers.
5. If you can't make a shift you signed up for, please notify Tim McGorisk by the Thursday before you are to volunteer. If it is after Thursday then call the coordinator for that Saturday. You will get the coordinators' numbers in an e-mail.
6. If you are an alternate, you are expected to come to the clinic if notified by e-mail or voice mail by 5:00 PM on Friday. As such, you are expected to remove yourself from the alternate list if you can't meet this obligation. You may also be contacted after this time to come in but you are under no obligation to do so.

Getting Scheduled Tips

• Note that in the beginning of the school year it is harder to get scheduled as 'working with someone' because of increased demand. This does not mean that you, as someone who hasn't been to the clinic, should sign up as 'working alone' because I will check this.

• Scheduling is done on a first-come first-served basis with fairness as the highest priority. But if you sign up and aren't scheduled to come in, you will receive priority when you sign up the following month above all those that were scheduled or didn't sign up previously. And if demand is so great (or you didn't follow the suggestions below) that you missed two months in a row you will get priority above the people that missed only one month. So even if you sign up first but came in last month, it is possible to not be scheduled if there are enough people who missed the previous month and signed up again.

• Feel free to e-mail Tim McGorisk if you feel you should have been scheduled. For example, if you signed up two months in a row and didn't get scheduled for the third month, I will investigate your situation. If I find that everything is in order I will not reply and you can rest assured that the reason you didn't get scheduled is because there were other people ahead of you in line. If there was a mistake on my part I will make sure you get scheduled.

• To increase your chances of getting scheduled you need to do the following:

  • Sign up at as early as possible after the sign-up sheet is posted.

  • Rank as many dates as possible.

  • Be an alternate (which may allow you to “slip into” a spot)

New Volunteers

1. You can signup in the uncomfortable working alone column more than once, but on your first visit ask your mentor to let you at least one patient on your own to see if you are ready to work alone the next visit. 
2. See Resources to be familiar with the clinical skills you should have.