Bruins Serving Beyond LA: Roadtrip to Clinic in Mexico
- May 6, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: May 7, 2025
Blog by Katherine Valencia
Coming from a small high school that lacked many typical high school activities, one of them being a football team, I was amazed by the ecstatic spirits and deep sense of togetherness among Bruins at UCLA. While a lot of this energy evidently stems from the athletic atmosphere, a majority of it comes from UCLA’s vibrant and diverse network of student-run organizations.
From clubs that run to new restaurants (will definitely participate next year), to others that were centered around health outreach through service trips, I was overwhelmed by what literally seemed to be hundreds of clubs, societies, and more at the Enormous Activities Fair (EAF). Having collected flyers from countless booths, I was startled by the competitive application process that came with being a member, which only made me hesitant to even apply to any. That was until I came across Flying Samaritans at UCLA.
Flying Samaritans is a nation-wide volunteer organization that provides free medical resources and care to the communities of Baja California, Mexico. With volunteer physicians, nurses, and dentists, UCLA’s chapter runs monthly clinics to the towns of Rancho Escondido and Colonia Margarita Moran in Tijuana, setting up clinic units, bringing food and clothing donations, and creating informational presentations to guide the community members into taking their health into their own hands.
There are four committees, each focusing on a different area of healthcare: Pharmacy, Health Education, Research & Outreach, and Public Health. Each committee works on their own health-based project to provide at that month’s clinic, enabling general members to become more involved in the clinic mission and focus. With a long-held interest in dentistry, I became part of the Dental Committee, which aims its efforts towards providing resources for dental school applications to members and facilitating the dental unit at the monthly clinics. With my fellow Dental Committee members, I found a community of driven students that have only encouraged me to continue my journey to dental school and immersed me in an environment that I feel really solidified my career goals.
Apart from the advice, laughs, and motivating words I share with my Flying Samaritan family, I want to highlight our biggest commitment: serving and empowering our patients. I write this blog to give you all insight into one of the many wonderful organizations at UCLA and how giving back to the community is such a fundamental piece to the Bruintality: how we practice teamwork and compassion.
So join me as I highlight what makes my Flying Samaritan family a reflection of Bruintality!
Wake Up: It's Clinic Day
Since we're all the way up in LA, clinic volunteers wake up at 2:30 am to gather on the Hill. Here, we meet our designated drivers (who are just students who volunteered to drive) that the Clinic Coordinators placed us with. These placements are random and I always find myself getting to know the other volunteers better in these 3 hours car rides to the San Diego-Mexico border; that is, if I am not asleep 30 minutes into the drive.
As a Dental Intern, my efforts are put into producing a project that can better enhance the efficacy of our Dental unit. My project was centered on oral health education for the kids. Hoping to hone my creativity, I wrote and illustrated a children’s book detailing the correct steps to brushing our teeth and proper flossing techniques to highlight the importance of maintaining healthy oral habits in a manner that better reaches the children’s attention and understanding. This was the clinic at which I would present my book, and while it might not look like it, I was very nervous.
Many clubs at UCLA offer intern positions that give students the opportunity to build their own project, play a more involved role in the organization's behind-the-scenes work, and it increases their chances of getting selected to a Board position!
Scribe, Scribe, Scribe
At clinic, student volunteers aid in the facilitation of the patient intake process, where we take vitals, work as medical scribes during patient evaluations, distribute goodie bags with health essentials, and play lotería with the kids. Many of these responsibilities can vary, however, depending on whether you are committee volunteer or working the general clinic unit.
In the Dental unit, I assist in cleaning the clinical equipment, preparing goodie bags with toothbrushes and floss, and organizing the treatment stations that our two volunteer dentists will work in.
A majority of the day once set-up is complete, however, is spent scribing. Volunteers will sit in on the patient evaluation and take note of any treatment required, plaque development, and more that is critical to maintain up-to-date patient files. The dentists often refer to teeth using their anatomical numbering, and while memorization is not required, I have found that learning these references has deepened my understanding of dental evaluations so that I have a better idea of what exactly is going on in evaluation. This opportunity not only gives me the chance to get a feel of what it is like to work as a medical scribe, but also enhance my knowledge in the field I'm passionate about.
At our March Clinic, we were able to see 14 patients in the Dental unit, which is twice as many as what we aim for every month!
Friendships
Every time I volunteer at clinic, I find myself more and more drawn to the beauty of medicine. Serving under-resourced communities has become such a rewarding experience as I am able to offer my empathy and form so many connections with the community members.
My favorite part, however, would be the friendships I leave with at the end of every clinic. Being one who loves to work with kids, I always join the kids on their hide-and-seek games and mini soccer games. It brings me so much to joy to see their smiles and share so many laughs, knowing that I'm contributing to an environment of positivity and comfort for them.
It would be so easy to just stay in the dorms over the weekend, catching up on sleep and binge-watching Gilmore Girls. But being out there with the patients reminds me that my efforts are going towards something much bigger than myself.
On top of that, I have found a family in Flying Samaritans that remind me of the essence of being a Bruin: having grit, ambitions, and a heart to share with those beyond UCLA. The numerous clubs, organizations, and societies at UCLA are not meant to create this atmosphere of competition and envy, but rather instill a community of diverse passions and outlets for students to feel welcomed in.
This is how I have built my foundation as a UCLA student: through service, connection, and purpose. I encourage you to go out there and find what inspires you to keep moving forward.
Read more about Flying Samaritans at UCLA at https://www.flyingsamaritansatucla.org/
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