Students Taking Their Shot at Urban Medicine : Health: Immunization clinic in Wilmington gives needed vaccines to children and offers aspiring doctors hands-on experience.

A small but determined band of medical students will set up shop this afternoon in a Wilmington park, launching a drive through the weekend to give free vaccinations to hundreds of children.

The students will be armed with syringes, coolers brimming with vaccines, public-health information and raffle prizes such as stuffed animals. Their goal: to improve vaccination rates in a community where, they report, too few children are getting immunized against diseases ranging from measles to polio.

The weekend clinic was organized by the Wilmington Vaccination Project, a program linked to Los Angeles County/Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The program has propelled Los Angeles medical students out of the classroom and into the streets for a summer lesson in how to get medical care to people who need it.

“It’s not just a vaccination project, although that’s our primary goal. It’s more of a pilot project in community-based medicine,” said participant Elizabeth Lee, 23, a second-year student at the UCLA School of Medicine.

The project has another purpose: to give medical students a taste of urban primary-care medicine, a field that historically has not attracted doctors in droves.

Lee and nine other students are spending the summer working with the Department of Family Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The department organized the vaccination program in conjunction with the Wilmington Community Free Clinic, a nonprofit agency that provides free health care to South Bay residents.

The free vaccination drive is “desperately needed,” said Dr. Peter Rivera, director of the Wilmington free clinic. “A lot of these kids just don’t have those vaccinations.”

The medical students are enrolled at the UCLA School of Medicine and the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. First, they set out to learn about vaccination patterns in Wilmington.

They studied demographic data for Wilmington and then went door-to-door, surveying the immunization histories of more than 200 children. They talked to church and school leaders and visited community meetings to better educate residents about the importance of childhood vaccinations.

For medical students accustomed to more academic settings, the project was a chance to learn about community medicine--and to discover how hard it is organize a public-health project.

“We developed the flyers, we developed the business letters. We went out and talked to the people,” Lee said. “It’s a good education about how to start from scratch.”

Now, after laying the groundwork, the students hope 500 or more children will get shots during the three-day event, called the Wilmington Healthy Child Weekend. Vaccinations will be available against whooping cough, measles, mumps, diphtheria, tetanus, rubella and polio.

“(Parents) just need to bring their (vaccination) card and their kid,” said Dr. Beatriz Lares, director of community projects at the Department of Family Medicine. Parents can also stop at booths to gather information about health programs, nutrition and social services.

The students plan to present the results of their summer study at a community meeting in early August.

Organizers are seeking funding to continue the Wilmington Vaccination Project with regular vaccination drives even after the medical students head back to school, said Dr. David Sanders, the family medicine department’s director of community programs.

“The idea is to get involved in that community on a long-term basis,” Sanders said.

Where to Get Free Vaccinations Free vaccinations and other health services will be offered starting today as part of the Wilmington Healthy Child Weekend. More information is available from the Wilmington Vaccination Project, (310) 518-3813.

Shots will be given at three locations:

Today: 2-6 p.m., Banning Park Recreation Center, 1331 Eubank Ave.

Saturday: 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Banning Park Nursery School, 1331 Eubank Ave.

Sunday: 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Holy Family Church Auditorium, 1122 E. Robidoux St. (at Watson).