Partnership with Affinity Immediate Care offers learning opportunities at Texas Chiropractic College

Texas Chiropractic College (TCC) is excited to welcome Affinity Immediate Care (AIC) into Moody Health Center (MHC). AIC will provide urgent care services along with occupational medicine and primary care. These services include care of minor emergencies, strep throat, allergies, urinary tract infections, laceration care, minor surgery, and the full spectrum of conditions typically seen in urgent care and family practices.

“Creating this exciting relationship was no easy task; however, the benefits to TCC’s staff, faculty, students, and the local community are awesome,” Michael R. Wiles, DC, MEd, MS, FCCS(C), professor and dean of clinical affairs at TCC, explained.

AIC will be open seven days per week, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Another great benefit for TCC is the opportunity to promote interprofessional practice (IPP) and education (IPE) which, incidentally, are very likely to be added to the Council on Chiropractic Education’s list of required competencies. Wiles has been involved with the National Center for Interprofessional Education since its inception, as a representative of the Academic Consortium of Complementary and Alternative Healthcare, and said “there is currently a huge emphasis on IPP and IPE in all areas of healthcare delivery.”

The general principle of IPE is that students and providers ought “to learn about, with, and from” students and providers from other fields. This is exactly what TCC and MHC will be striving to do through its collaboration with AIC. “In time, our students will be able to shadow the medical practice, and medical students who participate in AIC rotations will be able to shadow our chiropractic practice,” Wiles explained. In addition, AIC providers will be able to participate in TCC’s Grand Rounds. TCC students will get a chance to see how an interdisciplinary practice works, and be able to follow referrals to medical services, as well as benefit from referrals from the medical service.

AIC’s network of four clinics provides care to almost 40,000 patients per year and includes three other clinics in Galveston, Alvin, and Texas City. Over the next few months, TCC will be placing clinical teaching faculty in each of these clinics, making them TCC internship sites and expanding the footprint of TCC to the South.

“We believe we are the first chiropractic institution to incorporate an urgent care center in their academic health center, and look forward to a bright future exploring the myriad possibilities of interprofessional practice with our new partners,” Wiles said.

Source: Texas Chiropractic College