09/17/2026
Building Trust Through Ongoing Diabetes Care
Summer Scholar, Helena Li helped lead a specialty clinic serving uninsured and underserved patients.
This summer, Helena Li dedicated more time to volunteering with Noor Community Clinic and helping launch its diabetes specialty clinic.
The experience allowed her to support uninsured and underserved patients through ongoing diabetes care and see how access to free and subsidized care can affect patients’ lives.
“Supporting these patients through longitudinal diabetes care has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my medical education because I have seen firsthand how initiatives that expand access to free and subsidized healthcare improve lives.” |
Supporting Patients Beyond a Single Visit
For Helena, one of the most meaningful parts of the experience has been seeing patients return for follow-up visits. These experiences showed Helena the value of caring for patients over time.
“Rather than interacting with them only once, I have had the opportunity to become a small but consistent part of their health journey, celebrating improvements in their diabetes management while also helping them navigate setbacks.” |
Bringing Retinal Scans Into the Clinic
Helena also helped pioneer an initiative with LifeCare Alliance to incorporate retinal scans into diabetes clinic appointments. The partnership became another important part of her work with the clinic this summer.
Turning Her Experience Into Research
Helena’s work at Noor Community Clinic also inspired her research activities.
After analyzing data from this summer and recent years, she submitted an abstract to the 2026 Society of Student Run Free Clinics Annual Conference. Her research looks at how a dedicated diabetes clinic within a free clinic can improve patient outcomes.
Helena plans to continue serving in her role throughout the fall semester.
“This experience has strengthened my commitment to caring for underserved communities and has further shaped me to be the kind of physician who combines compassionate longitudinal care with efforts to improve healthcare delivery for vulnerable populations.” |
Support Future Summer ScholarsThrough the OSMA Foundation Summer Scholars Program, medical students like Eiman can pursue meaningful summer experiences that expand their learning and help shape their journeys in medicine. |
We also accept grants from Donor Advised Funds (DAF). Simply provide your DAF Sponsor with the following:
EIN# is 31-0907287 and organization listed as Ohio Medical Education Foundation • 4400 N High St. Ste. 304 Columbus, OH 43214