Frequently Asked Questions
For patients
Q: How much do services at PFC cost?
A: All on-site services, including physician consultations, exams, and available vaccines, and specialty care are free. Blood and urine tests (drawn on-site or at Stanford Labs) are free. X-ray at Stanford (to which we can refer patients) are free. For other services such as ultrasounds or specialist care outside of our on-site clinic, we refer patients to local facilities, many of which provide financial assistance for eligible individuals. As a transitional care facility, we aim to connect all patients with a low-cost long-term primary care provider.
Q: How long should I expect to wait until I am seen?
A: [Note: we do not guarantee any maximum wait time; these are estimated times only.] For walk-in patients, wait time depends on your order of arrival and often range from 15-60 min under normal circumstances. For return patients with appointments, wait times are generally less than 30 min. Once your visit begins, it may take 1-3 hours to finish depending on which on-site services you need. Please tell clinic volunteers about any time constraints at the beginning of your visit so you can determine together whether your visit can be conducted within the desired time.
Q: Do you take children as patients?
A: Unfortunately, we are not able to see patients under the age of 18.
Q: Who will I interact with at clinic?
1) A front desk volunteer will greet you, ask you to fill out registration information, and take your height and weight.
2) A preclinical volunteer (medical student or experienced non-medical student undergraduate) will speak with you about your health concerns.
3) You may be accompanied by an interpreter or a care facilitator (non-medical student undergraduate) to guide you through your visit.
4) A physician will speak with you, perform any necessary exams, and recommend actions.
5) A physician assistant student or medical student may draw your blood if the physician orders blood tests. A lab assistant (non-medical student volunteer) will guide you through the process.
6) You may speak with a health educator, referrals volunteer, or insurance enrollment volunteer (non-medical student undergraduate) during your visit.
7) When leaving, please confirm any future appointments with the front desk.
Periodically, we host international medical students, high school students, other college students, and physicians’ guests as visitors. They may ask to observe your conversations with clinic staff for educational purposes. You have the right to refuse such observations at any time.
Q: Why do I only get voicemail when I try to call?
A: Pacific Free Clinic is staffed by volunteer students and physicians, so our phone number is not monitored. Please leave us a voicemail with your name, DOB (for returning patients), and phone number, and we will return your call as soon as possible.
Q: Can I make an appointment?
A: All first-time patients are first-come, first-serve walk-in patients; we do not make appointments for first-time patients. If you have been seen at clinic before, you may call us at (650) 721-2786 to schedule an appointment.
Q: What if I miss an appointment?
A: Leave us a voicemail at 6507212786 explaining your situation, and we will call back to arrange a make-up appointment.
Q: Can I get a prescription refill?
A: If you are not a current patient at Pacific Free Clinic, you will have to complete a new-patient visit before our physicians can write you a prescription. For patients with previous prescriptions from Pacific Free Clinic, please call at (650) 721-2786 with your name, DOB, medication name and dose, and the address of your preferred pharmacy. However, we highly discourage patients from relying on Pacific Free Clinic for long-term medications, as we have limited resources and aim to connect all patients with other institutions better equipped to provide long-term healthcare. --Go with Arbor’s policy, exceptions for liver clinic
For prospective volunteers
Q: I am a healthcare provider. Can I volunteer?
A: MDs, APPs: Please see our physician volunteering page for information about credentialing and getting started.
RNs and MAs: We are currently working on a credentialing process for on-site volunteering, so we do not have on-site volunteering opportunities for RNs and MAs at the moment. However, we are interested in partnering with RNs and MAs to train medical students off-site in phlebotomy. Please email us at volunteer.pfc@gmail.com for further information.
Q: Can Stanford undergraduate alumni volunteer?
A: Providing service learning opportunities for current Stanford students is our priority. Undergraduates and co-terms who begin volunteering while enrolled at Stanford are welcome to continue volunteering after graduation, but may not resume volunteering after an absence from clinic longer than one academic quarter (10 weeks). Alumni who did not volunteer in the quarter before graduation are not eligible to volunteer, unless they are currently employed at Stanford.
Q: I am in high school. Can I volunteer?
A: High school students are not eligible to volunteer, even if they have SUNet IDs, but please see our ICM program (link here) for San Jose high schoolers.
Q: I’m not currently a volunteer. Can I shadow at PFC?
A: Approved programs (VIA, HCOP, ICM) or guests of volunteer attending physicians may shadow at PFC. Due to limited room space and concern for patient privacy and well-being, the student manager on duty reserves the right to restrict the number of shadowing individuals, and advance notice of shadowing plans is appreciated (please email pfc-managers@lists.stanford.edu).