Hear from our Community
On this page, you’ll find testimonials from the people who make our mission possible — our team and our advisors.
Dr. Irene Mynatt
Physician Advisor
OSU street medicine has grown rapidly since forming in 2022. There is a huge need for medical care for our unhoused community members in Columbus. The city has experienced rapid growth over the last several years while the cost of living has increased. I am passionate about serving as co-advisor to this much-needed student run group. As an emergency medicine physician, I see first hand the struggles of our community members. Addiction, homelessness, and the lack of basic care are big problems and our aim is to provide resources and care to these community members. OSU Street Medicine started out partnering with Treats 4 the Streets at the Columbus Public Library in downtown Columbus. Our partnership has been extremely successful and now we have clinics twice monthly. At the clinics we are able to perform health screenings, write prescriptions, make appointments in conjunction with the Columbus Free Clinic, perform wound care, and hand out harm reduction products such as Narcan and fentanyl test strips.
We also go to unhoused encampments and provide care. These are rough situations where people are living in tents and are exposed to the weather and tough conditions. We offer supplies such as blankets, tents, hand warmers, food/water, in addition to medical care.
I am honored to be involved with this group and am excited to see our organization grow and provide care to our community members.
Our Student Leaders
Street Medicine at Ohio State started after a few classmates at OSUCOM shadowed Mount Carmel’s Street Medicine team. Recognizing the growing need for increased medical outreach for the unhoused community, our team was inspired to develop our own initiative at OSU. Expanding this organization from a group of a few medical students to a robust and dedicated network of student and provider volunteers has been a huge privilege. We are fortunate for the mentorship we have received from our community partners, street medicine leaders, and physician educators, and continue to learn new lessons everyday when seeking to provide healthcare to some of the most medically vulnerable people in our community.
We are grateful to have been able to expand our medical school education to include care for folks who are unhoused. These patients are often excluded from the formal healthcare system and face numerous barriers to medical care and social support. While a decentralized model of healthcare presents challenges, it has allowed us to provide creative, quality healthcare with limited resources–and, most importantly, allowed us to build trusting relationships with people experiencing homelessness.
Building community and wellbeing amid the widening housing and wealth disparity crises has been central to the values of our work. While a housing-first approach is essential to addressing the root causes of health disparities among people experiencing homelessness, Street Medicine plays a critical role in reducing some of the financial and transportation-related barriers to care. We look forward to continuing to grow this work in partnership with the communities we serve.
