Structure, utilization, and screening adherence of a student-run women’s health clinic for uninsured Spanish-speaking women: A descriptive analysis
Background:
Uninsured, low-income Spanish-speaking women face systemic barriers to accessing gynecologic care, especially within Fort Worth, Texas. Because of this health disparity, we elected to evaluate screening outcomes of patients receiving care at La Clínica de las Mujeres (LCDM), a student-run clinic (SRC) providing free, culturally competent care to this population in Fort Worth, Texas.
Objectives:
To assess the structure and utilization of an SRC on cancer screening adherence among uninsured, Spanish-speaking women in Fort Worth, Texas.
Design:
Retrospective descriptive pre-post study.
Methods:
Chart review of patients seen at LCDM from August 2022 to September 2024 was conducted. Data included 147 clinical encounters with 114 individual patients, assessing demographics, screening history, services, and referrals. McNemar’s test assessed changes in screening adherence.
Results:
Patients (mean age: 47.5 years; 95.6% Hispanic) primarily resided in underserved zip codes (77.2% in 76110). Pre-intervention, 46% adhered to Pap smear guidelines and 64% to mammography guidelines. Post-intervention adherence approaches complete compliance among those with available post-intervention data (Pap χ²[1] = 66.0,
p
< 0.0001; Mammogram χ²[1] = 27.0,
p
< 0.0001). Services included pelvic ultrasounds (
n
= 20), specialist referrals (
n
= 11), and contraceptive access (
n
= 12).
Conclusions:
LCDM was associated with significant improvements in gynecologic preventive care adherence for uninsured Spanish-speaking populations in Fort Worth, Texas. Student-run models may help address critical gaps in accessibility to women’s health services and mitigate systemic barriers to care for underserved populations.
