Lincoln Medical Center is located in the South Bronx area of NYC which is a federally designated HPSA area. Increasing availability of health care access has been part of the challenges that we strive to overcome through the years and we do this by launching a program called Street Medicine (NYC Health + Hospitals’ Street Health Outreach & Wellness (SHOW). Street medicine is a branch of social medicine focused on delivering healthcare directly to people experiencing homelessness, especially those living unsheltered on the streets. In New York City—home to one of the largest unhoused populations in the U.S.—street medicine has become a critical public health intervention. This coming July 2025, the Department of Medicine -IM Residency Program will have Social Medicine as a new rotation for its residents to allow them to participate in this kind of initiative. This will include:
- Residents will prepare give educational lectures for the community regarding cancer screening tests, management of common chronic diseases, HIV and STDs, obesity, vaccinations, nutrition, and substance use among others. Target audience and locations will be NYC housing projects, worship places, colleges, homeless shelters, and drug rehabilitation centers.
- Rotations in nursing homes to learn various aspects of care for elderly patients with chronic medical conditions. Residents will be supervised by certified attending physicians.
- Health fairs in the community, mainly homeless shelters and housing projects.
- QI and research projects related to the above
Dr. Juliet A Widoff
