The Banner

As California Baptist University students prepare to go across the globe on International Service Project trips, the Riverside Medical Clinic came to campus offering vaccinations. On Jan. 20 and 21, ISP participants were able to meet with the clinic's traveling vaccination team to receive necessary vaccines for their international trips.

Robert Dottl, the clinic's marketing coordinator, explained the process.

"Students fill out a consent form and pay any necessary fees for their vaccines. The only vaccines offered for free are for the H1N1 and regular flu vaccine," Dottl said.

Dottl continued by stating that the traveling clinic partners with other local medical and dental providers for community outreach, like homeless connect that offers flu vaccines, medical and dental examinations, provided at no cost or a nominal fee.

Dale Venaas, RN, and Diana Anderson, LVN, were part of the vaccination team. Venaas, a nine-year veteran gave the vaccinations, he began as a teacher but has since been promoted. He continues to teach and works directly with patients. Anderson has been with the clinic for one year and works in urgent care.

Venaas is pleased that vaccines are available to university students, especially on campuses like CBU where students are serving overseas.

A total of nine students made use of the clinic in January. The clinic usually expects an average of about 100 students for the series of vaccines it offers. The traveling clinic will be back on campus Feb. 24-25 and March 30-31.

The clinic also offered an information table which provided students with pamphlets, fliers and other reading material.

The Riverside Medical Clinic works in conjunction with the insurance provided through CBU. Students should be familiar with the Riverside Medical Clinic as they have provided flu vaccine clinics on campus and had a nurse who provided blood pressure and eye exam screenings during the Involvement Fair at the Van Dyne Gymnasium on Sept. 4, 2009.

The clinic offers students at the School of Nursing an opportunity to serve the community. The vaccinations provided during flu clinics at CBU are administered by the student nurses under the supervision of the Riverside Medical Clinic staff. According to staff members, this provides the student nurses valuable training and preparation for the field of nursing.

The clinic was founded in 1935 by Dr. Phillip Corr and Dr. Ray McCarty at the historical Riverside Mission Inn. It has seen since grown to have 125 board-certified, multi-specialty physicians and a 120,000 square feet facility.

The main campus of the Riverside Medical Clinic is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the weekends. It is located on the corner of Arlington Ave and Brockton Ave. They also have locations throughout Riverside County in Corona, Jurupa Valley and Moreno Valley.