国产传媒

Gaining practical career skills while also serving underresourced populations is a hallmark of a Mount education. The Department of Physical Therapy continues this important work by offering free weekly clinics at the Midnight Mission on Skid Row to unhoused individuals. Skid Row, located in downtown Los Angeles, has the largest population of homeless people in the US. The Midnight Mission, founded in 1914, is a nonprofit organization supporting those who are unhoused or recovering from addiction.

Since February, Mount DPT students have volunteered weekly at the Mission to practice their clinical skills and provide essential care. Supervised by associate professor Benjamin Cornell, PT, MPT, PhD, students treat a variety of conditions, including muscle strains, back and neck pain, tendinitis, ligament injuries and arthritis.

“At the clinic, students take everything they learn in the classroom and practice with real patients experiencing those issues,” says Dr. Cornell. “With this hands-on experience in a clinical setting, students gain confidence with the therapies, and receive valuable feedback from patients.”

Three students attend each clinic, serving on five-to-six-week rotations to ensure continuity of care. The program, funded by the Department of Physical Therapy, has been highly successful, with a record 280 patients treated in its first eight months.

An earlier clinic ran until 2019 when a partnership at another organization in downtown Los Angeles ended. Lindsey Vest ‘24, DPT, helped spearhead the efforts to revive the pro-bono program over the last year.

“I have experienced homelessness myself, so restarting the clinic was important to me,” says Lindsey, who served as the clinic’s student coordinator from January to June 2024. She says working with patients from diverse backgrounds helped her prepare for clinical rotations.

“The clinic is so important because it provides free services to people in need while showing students the complexities of being homeless,” she says. “We also benefitted from having Dr. Cornell’s mentorship and the support from fellow volunteers to navigate uncertainties or discomforts in a safe space.”

Dr. Cornell emphasizes the broader impact of the clinic. “At the Mission, students begin to realize the impact they can have on another human,” he says. “To be a great physical therapist, you need technical skills and the ability to have meaningful interactions with patients, and this clinic prepares students for both. Along with the academic aspects, there is so much social-emotional value in this program.”