Megan McLelland completed a 180-hour internship at two free clinics in rural South Carolina to fulfill her degree requirements. She shadowed Dr. Petra Warren and served as a medical scribe, assisting with patient check-ins, taking vitals, and attending community events. Her responsibilities also included translating for Spanish-speaking patients, contacting other organizations, and conducting research projects to improve screening recommendations and the referral process. Through this experience, she learned about caring for uninsured populations and gained clinical skills like using an electronic health record system.

1. Internship Overview
Megan McLelland

2. Introduction
• I am a senior at Clemson University, finishing my degrees in Health
Science and Language & International Health. As a requirement for
Health Science graduation, I must complete a 180-hour internship at
an approved location. I was given the opportunity to work with Dr.
Petra Warren at two free clinics in rural South Carolina. I had various
responsibilities and was taught a lot about medicine and the various
ways that medical care can be brought to a community.

3. The Free Medical Clinic of Cherokee County

4. Middle Tyger Community Center

5. • Free clinic located within the community center
• 84 Groce Rd A, Lyman, SC 29365
• Attending physician, Dr. Petra Warren (pwarren@carolinas.vcom.edu)
• Located at the Senior Center in Gaffney, SC
• 499 W Rutledge Ave, Gaffney, SC 29341
• Director on-site, Libbie Cheeks (libbie@ccfmc.org)
• Attending physician, Dr. Petra Warren (pwarren@carolinas.vcom.edu)
The Free Medical Clinic of Cherokee County
Middle Tyger Community Center

6. • These organizations seek to bring care to the rural populations of
Gaffney and Lyman, SC, the majority of which are uninsured and no-
to low-income. They also serve a small homeless population.
• The clinics offer primary care services such as physical checkups and
screenings. Other organizations will collaborate with the free clinics in
order to offer more services. A great example of this is the monthly
collaboration with Middle Tyger that brings in an OBGYN to offer free
PAP smears for patients in need.
Description of the sites

7. • The most common diagnoses at these clinics are hypertension,
diabetes, depression, anxiety, and arthritis. The patients that come in
usually range from ages 40 to 60, and most of them have had some
form of established care in the past. In my experience, the patients
are more often smokers than not.
• One of the goals of the free clinics is to provide care regardless of
circumstances. However, as part of the mission of the clinics, the
doctors are very aware of the opioid epidemic in the United States
and refrain from prescribing these medications in order to prevent
the furthering of this problem.
Description of the sites

8. • Some of the major organizations that collaborate with the free clinics
are Vocational Rehabilitation, Welvista, and the indigent care program
of Mary Black Outpatient Center.
Description of the sites

9. Description of intern responsibilities
• In both clinics, I shadowed the physician or medical student attending
the patient visit and served as a scribe, filling out the patient’s SOAP
note as needed. I learned valuable techniques like how to operate the
online system we used, Practice Fusion, as well as different
abbreviations and codes used when scribing.

10. Description of intern responsibilities
• I checked-in patients and took their vitals
(including blood pressure, pulse, temperature,
height, and weight) as well as recorded their
chief complaint and updated any changes to
their medical or social history.

11. Description of intern responsibilities
• I attended any events that the clinics participated in such as
Operation Stand Down which brings in different organizations from
the region that support American veterans and provide a range of
free services. My responsibilities included assisting with veteran sign-
in and registration for services. Another event I attended was the
Union Community Wellness Event sponsored by Welvista where I
helped with patient registration as well as taking blood pressures.

12. Description of intern responsibilities
• I worked hand in hand with the medical
students volunteering, and I contacted
other organizations in order to collect
information about additional services they
could provide to our patients or to gather
materials that we could use to improve
the relations between the two
organizations. This includes lab work
request forms and patient intake forms.

13. Description of intern responsibilities
• The clinics also receive patients of different
ethnicities, and given my strong background in
Spanish, I was able to translate the visits for
any Hispanic patients as well as help them
properly complete patient intake forms prior
to being seen.

14. Description of intern responsibilities
• One of my responsibilities included working
with the medical students volunteering with
the free clinics. Dr. Warren also recommended
that I choose a day to attend a lecture and lab
at the Osteopathic school that she is affiliated
with, VCOM, and learn about the different
requirements and challenges of being a
medical student.

15. Projects
When working in primary
care, it is essential to be
aware of any changes in
recommendations for
screening for certain
diseases. As part of a
personal research project
assigned to me by my
internship preceptor, I
researched the US
Preventive Tasks Force
recommendations for
screening in primary care
and prepared a spreadsheet
and presented it to her.

16. Projects
Working with a free clinic means that there
are often other organizations involved in
helping provide care to the uninsured
population that is being seen. For this
reason, I was asked to recreate a patient
referral form for the patients who need to
be sent to another facility to receive care
or have a test performed.

17. Projects
Patients that are seeking care at the free
clinic are sometimes unaware of other
benefits that they could be receiving from
different organizations in the community.
Shown to the right is a brochure I created
to help patients have all the resources they
need for other services within one piece of
paper.

18. Conclusion
• Throughout my time in the internship, I learned a lot about a
population that was completely new to me: the uninsured. I learned
the importance of advocating for those who are different from you
and rely on you for assistance. I worked on my skills for taking patient
vital signs like blood pressure and pulse, and I learned how to operate
an online health record system. I completed research projects about
health screening and designed various forms to assist with patient
referrals. I am very lucky to have been given the chance to work with
such a kind and passionate group of people, eager to bring medical
care to those who cannot access it themselves.