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The Interdisciplinary Student Community Patient Education Service
(ISCOPES) project is a collaborative effort between The George Washington
University Medical Center and George Mason University. ISCOPES is
a remarkable program dedicated to improving community healthcare
through service learning. This voluntary program involves Doctor
of Medicine (MD), Nurse Practitioner (NP), Physician Assistant (PA),
Physical Therapy (PT), Health Services Management and Policy (HSMP),
and Master of Public Health (MPH) students who, in interdisciplinary
teams, design and participate in service learning activities in
the community. Specifically, these teams identify health needs and
design health education and health promotion activities in partnership
with community sites throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan
area. Sites include, but are not limited to, La Clinica del Pueblo,
the Washington Free Clinic, Head Start, Bread for the City/Zacchaeus
Free Clinic, and Hospice Care of DC.
ISCOPES is the only program of its kind in the area; few universities
across the country are doing anything like it.
ISCOPES provides students with a unique opportunity to interact
with students from other health science programs, work with people
from different cultures, function as part of a team, and strive
to improve the delivery and quality of community-oriented primary
care and healthcare education. In doing so, ISCOPES allows students
to gain hands-on experience to supplement the information presented
in class. Guidance from university professors, on-site social workers,
health educators, and school administrators, allows students to
bridge the gap between classroom learning and community service.
For more information about the ISCOPES program, visit the website
at www.gwu.edu/~iscopes.
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