AT THE COLLEGES

07/27/2009     

CSPM Students Complete Bay Area Homeless Service Project

The first two Samuel Merritt University (SMU) students to become Albert Schweitzer Fellows (ASF) recently completed their year long community service project. Bright Chen and Analiza Mitchell, both 4th year students in the Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) program at the California School of Podiatric Medicine (CSPM), dedicated their Bay Area community service project towards foot care for the homeless in San Francisco.

Samuel Merritt students Liza Mitchell (L) and Bright Chen

Their project, appropriately titled, “Step Up for Foot Care,” involved more than 200 hours of community service each, including 100 hours of direct service. Their project consisted of three major components, including assessing the foot health care needs, educating the homeless regarding proper foot care practices, and delivery of much needed foot care products. 

Chen and Mitchell are currently analyzing the results from their project survey. Presently, there are no published studies on the podiatric health needs of the homeless population in the Bay Area.  Their CSPM faculty mentors for the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship are Assistant Professor David Tran, DPM, MS, and Professor of Department of Basic Medical Sciences and Director of Research, Peter Barbosa, PhD.