Contact Information:
Ryan Fabrizius, M.D.
Lawndale Christian Health Center
3256 W. 24th Street, Chicago, IL 60623
RyanFabrizius@lawndale.org
872-588-3449
Please visit: www.lawndale.org

Applying for a rotation:

Due to limited spots available for the rotation, we recommend that students apply at least 6 months in advance. 
Go to www.lawndale.org. Move the cursor onto the "Opportunities" tab and click on "Clinical Rotations”, scroll down to ‘Apply For A Rotation’.

Please note that this is a Christian faith-based experience that stresses the incorporation of faith in clinical practice.

Type of Setting:

Lawndale Christian Health Center (LCHC) is a community-based nonprofit organization founded in 1984 and dedicated to improving the health of Chicago’s Lawndale, Garfield Park and Archer Heights communities. LCHC provides quality primary care services without regard for a patient’s ability to pay and serves as a community resource for eliminating health disparities. LCHC is one of several ministries of Lawndale Community Church. The focus of the health center is to address to spiritual, social, physical and emotional components of health and well-being. Approximately 51% of LCHC’s patients have Medicaid coverage, 5% have Medicare and 32% have no medical insurance coverage at all. About 39% of the patients are African American and 57% are Latino. LCHC is a federally qualified health center. LCHC provides patient care at 4 sites (Ogden Ave., Homan Square, Farragut Academy, Archer Heights) with each site serving a slightly different patient population. In 2021 LCHC provided 213,348 total patient/client visits among the 4 medical clinics, dental, optometry, health support services, behavioral health and fitness center.

Students from many different health care programs (MD, DO, PA, FNP, optometry, dentistry, behavioral health) rotate at LCHC. LCHC strongly prefers students/residents who apply for an elective rotation as opposed to a core clerkship and requires that students/residents have at least three months of outpatient clinic experience prior to a LCHC rotation.

Staff:
The physicians on staff at LCHC include family physicians, pediatricians, internists (including one rheumatologist and one endocrinologist), med-peds physicians, obstetricians/gynecologists, as well as orthopedic surgeons and radiologists who volunteer at the health center. There are also nurse practitioners, physician assistants, dentists, optometrists, psychologists, and pharmacists on staff.

Rotation Description:
Each student will see patients with chronic conditions, acute illnesses and for general physical exams. Students are expected to develop differential diagnoses and form appropriate treatment plans. All patients will be seen and discussed with an attending physician. Approximately 40 hours per week will be spent in patient care. Students will participate in broad-based primary care services in the clinic setting, but they will also have the opportunity to do primary care in homeless shelters and home visits. These can be valuable learning experiences for understanding how socio-economic factors, cultural beliefs and spiritual beliefs affect health.