Homeless & Indigent Population Health Outreach Project
Bridging medical education and community needs in New Brunswick for over 30 years.
The Community is Our Classroom
The Homeless and Indigent Population Health Outreach Project (HIPHOP) is focused on providing healthcare professional students opportunities to empower our future patients and/or underserved populations. Our programs range from shadowing at clinics to teaching high school students about HIV prevention, mentoring and tutoring and much more. The common link for all our programs is that they allow us to reach out to the community, learn from the community, and provide much-needed services.
Upcoming HIPHOP Events
HIPHOP: Community Health Initiative
HIPHOP Community Health Initiative is a community service student-run program through collaborative community partnerships and supervised by Robert Wood Johnson Medical School that provides students with the opportunity to take part in service-learning activities and get involved with the Greater New Brunswick area.
HIPHOP: Asylum Clinic
Our volunteer healthcare providers and student scribes at the HIPHOP Asylum Clinic assist with medical evaluations and documentation in support of asylum applications for victims of persecution from countries across the globe. Asylum seekers with legal representation and forensic medical affidavits are more than twice more likely to be granted asylum.
HIPHOP: Promise Clinic
At the Promise Clinic, our student-doctors provide free primary care services to the clients of Elijah's Promise Soup Kitchen in New Brunswick. Our mission is to help empower our patients, many of whom are uninsured and have chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, to live healthier lives.
Our Mission
To link educational experiences of medical students and health professional students with health-related needs of the Greater New Brunswick area while promoting healthy living practices and providing preventive health education, primary care, support and advocacy to underserved and indigent populations.
Leadership
Susan Giordano, BA
Eric G. Jahn, MD
Our History
HIPHOP was established in 1992 as the community service arm of the American Medical Student Association at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School by Jamie Reedy and Jeff Brenner, two medical students in the Class of 1995, in response to pressing health needs and a lack of opportunities for students to engage in community service. HIPHOP has since evolved into an umbrella program with major initiatives, receiving financial support from the Office of the Dean, program fundraising events, and private donations.