FLINT (WJRT) - (12/11/14) - A Flint elementary school has visitors every month from Michigan State University.

While it's a program for the kids, everyone involved is learning a lot about the school environment - and themselves.

As part of a certification program at Michigan State's medical school, three third year students are visiting the Durant-Turri-Mott Elementary School.

"We work directly with the community. We do these weekly volunteer activities just to get to know the community and also try to do some good and help out in ways that we can," said Joe Meleca, third year Michigan State Medical student.

The med students work through the program "leadership and medicine for the underserved", and with Flint being a community where there can be challenges for families to access medical and health services, the school couldn't be happier to partner up.

"They live in kind of an artificial environment. Usually they're in a very academic world, so when they get right in schools and experience students first hand, they get to hear all the things that they're dealing with, and it becomes much more real," said Pam Flores, Durant-Tuuri-Mott School social worker.

They visit three times a month throughout the school year, focusing on attendance and health, and doing activities with the kids.

"We've been trained in the Michigan model and our hope is to do some education on health, good touch/bad touch, how to keep yourself clean at home, how to eat nutritious foods. Not only can they learn those things, but hopefully they can bring those things back their household," Meleca said.

Everyone's learning from each other.

"Some of them are blind, some of them are deaf, and just understanding the difficulties they have to go through every day just to have the same kind of learning that maybe I had in school, it really impacts me quite a bit," Meleca said.

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MSU students visit Flint elementary school