“I love the collaboration and teaching that goes on in the clinic between students, staff and physicians at The Free Clinic. Volunteering at The Free Clinic allows me to make a positive impact on this community by serving the people who depend on the clinic as their primary source of health care. It’s a great feeling caring for the patients.

My most memorable experience at The Free Clinic was with a patient who came in with worsening symptoms of heart failure. He was taking the maximum medications, but his condition continued to worsen. We sat and talked for a while, and I listened to him share his worries about the future. Even though there wasn’t much we could do for his condition, he felt relieved to talk to someone, to lift some of the burden. This experience reminded me that sometimes the best medicine is compassion.”

Elizabeth Cook, a second-year medical student, is from Columbus, Ohio. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2009 from Texas Christian University. Before coming to medical school, she was an elementary school art teacher in the Dallas area for 5 years.