Columbia Medical Brigade January 9-15, 2014 Honduras

From January 9-15, 2014, a group of student volunteers from Columbia University will travel to Honduras to work closely with medical professionals as they offer healthcare to communities that have limited access to health care.

[Learn more and support the cause]

Medical Brigades is a discipline of Global Brigades, the world's largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization. The Columbia chapter systematically works with more than 300 other university groups around the world to deliver and implement one of nine skill-based programs that benefit more than 130,000 Honduran and Panamanian community members annually.

Volunteer Activity Description:
Volunteers on Medical and Dental Brigades work closely together with licensed medical and dental professionals to provide quality health initiatives to a community that otherwise has limited access to health care. Volunteers spend three days in a community in order to optimize the amount of time patients are able to spend with the physicians and dentists. Each patient receives a physician consultation, public health talk, and prescribed medicines as well as have access to PAP smears, prostate exams and restorative dental care as necessary. Children, in addition, receive teeth cleaning, a fluoride treatment, and vitamins necessary for proper growth and development. Volunteers have the opportunity to take patient vitals, obtain patient history and current symptoms, shadow and assist licensed physicians and dentists, participate in preventative education, and fill prescriptions under a licensed pharmacist. Volunteers will become familiar with the prevalent health issues in their community and learn about how to prevent and treat those illnesses. These brigades provide each volunteer with the opportunity to make a tangible impact on a specific community while gaining real life experience in the field of international medicine and dentistry.