Around the table, four nursing students in white coats bearing the blue and gold Hopkins student nursing emblem shift uncomfortably in their chairs. It is 9 o'clock on a Thursday morning at the Health Care for the Homeless Clinic on Park Avenue, just blocks from the Baltimore Arena. Just a trace of nervousness shows on their faces. Today, they will confront the multifaceted health problems of the city's homeless population. Drug abuse and alcoholism, they learn, are among the most common problems afflicting the homeless.
Dental problems are another frequent complaint at the clinic.
Baltimore, says Becker, has only one free dental clinic, operated by the city Health Department, with very limited hours. If you have a problem they pull it. Without thinking, the student to Becker's right rubs her jaw. It exposes students to the complex and often chronic health problems that afflict the region's poorest citizens. And it provides them with more of an in-depth exposure to those problems than they would ordinarily receive in a hospital environment.