Vanderbilt Center for Community Health Solutions

Students and the Center

Vanderbilt medical student Ravi Patel became interested in Nashville’s food deserts in February 2010 at the Shade Tree Clinic.  Medical student Carmen Adams’s summer 2009 food desert study had identified a lack of access to healthy foods in Nashville’s “food deserts” due to insufficient time, childcare, and transportation to supermarkets.

Patel conducted a feasibility study for a full-service grocery store in the Shade Tree area with the Vanderbilt Owen School of Management.  The administrative framework and business plan for the mobile market were drafted with the help of Shade Tree medical director Robert Miller, MD.  Community partners made the Nashville Mobile Market’s February 2011 launch possible.

Students have a long tradition as leaders at the Center for Health Services. 

What is your idea for a community-based health care solution?