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North America, Central America, & Caribbean

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Student Name: Craig Bleakney

Trip Dates: June 1, 2012 to July 31, 2012

Description: I went to Costa Rica for 5 weeks of language classes to learn Spanish. I had very limited prior knowledge of Spanish, and wanted to be able to speak to the Hispanic community and my future patients without barriers. I had class for about 30 hours a week, and lived with a family who spoke no English. I also shadowed a clinician in their office a few times a week and treated patients who would come in. Following Costa Rica, I traveled around Nicaragua for a bit before returning to Costa Rica to continue working in a clinic alongside a physician. I would certainly recommend the trip to other students.

Website: http://www.adventurespanishschool.com/


Costa Rica and Panama

Trip description: "For two weeks, we traveled with medical doctors in an effort to provide basic medical care to 4 different communities in Costa Rica and Panama. The clinics were held in either a local church or community center. Our duties consisted of obtaining vital signs, acquiring a patient history, and conducting a physical exam. Translators were with us the entire time to help us communicate. When our student-led team felt ready, we presented our patient to one of the doctors, where a final diagnosis and treatment plan was agreed upon. In addition to clinical work, we conducted community surveys to assess the needs of the villages where we were serving and rotated in the pharmacy. Previous medical experience is helpful, but not required. This is an excellent opportunity for beginners"
Cheryl Dewitt, '07, Meghan and Ryan Dougherty, Summer 2007, 2 weeks

Program/Organization: International Service Learning
Website: www.islonline.org


Dominical and Turrialba, Costa Rica

Program/Organization: International Service Learning
Website: www.islonline.org

Trip description: Spanish classes in the morning, afternoon community service projects in clinics or hospitals
Dawn Marie Borromeo, '03, Patricia Lee Scott, '03
February 2003, 1 month as M4 elective

Program/Organization: Adventure Education Center (AEC) Costa Rica
Rich Garrison, Director
Phone: (800) 237-2730
Website: www.adventurespanishschool.com


Dominical and Turrialba, Costa Rica

Trip description: Spanish classes in the morning, afternoon community service projects in clinics or hospitals
Stephen Buckhold, '06
May-June 2003, 1 month of M1 summer

Program/Organization: Adventure Education Center (AEC) Costa Rica
Rich Garrison, Director
Phone: (800) 237-2730
Website: www.adventurespanishschool.com


Dominical and Turrialba

Trip description: Basic and medical Spanish in a classroom/beach setting, community health projects
Vanessa Hardin, '05, Brent Weiland, '05
July 2002, 4 weeks of M1 summer

Program/Organization: Institute for Spanish Language Studies
Email in Turrialba: aecdominical@racsa.co.cr
Email in Dominical: aecinfo2001@yahoo.com
Website: www.adventurespanishschool.com
Phone: (800) 765-0025 (ISLS)


San Jose

Trip description: Medical Spanish at the Rincon Chiquito Clinic - local clinical experience and house calls
Aaron Allan Burchfield, '01
April-May 2001, 6 weeks of M4 elective

Program/Organization: Institute for Spanish Language Studies (ISLS)
Kierston Garrison, Director
Phone: (800) 765-0025

Cuba

Havana

Trip description: Preventive medicine/public health seminars, clinical experience
Shiraz Mounhiddin, '04
April 2004, 1 month as M4 elective

Program/Organization: National School of Public Health (Havana City)
Email: fernando@cenapem.sld.cu or rborroto@infomed.sld.cu
Phone: 79-5879, 57-6284 and 78-8800
Fax: (537) 55-1937


Havana

Trip description: Preventive medicine/public health seminars, clinical experience
Kelly MacMillan Rodney, '06
June-July 2003, 1 month of M1 summer

Program/Organization: National School of Public Health (Havana City)
Email: fernando@cenapem.sld.cu or rborroto@infomed.sld.cu
Phone: 79-5879, 57-6284 and 78-8800
Fax: (537) 55-1937


Havana

Trip description: Learn about the public health system, traditional medicine, maternal-infant health care
Laura Ellen Griffith, '06
June-July 2003, 1 month of M1 summer

Program/Organization: MEDICC
National School of Public Health (Havana City)
Email: fernando@cenapem.sld.cu or rborroto@infomed.sld.cu
Phone: 79-5879, 57-6284 and 78-8800
Fax: (537) 55-1937


Havana

Trip description: Attending conference on international medicine, donating books to Latin American medical schools
Wes Diddle, '04, Scott Carlson Polk, '04, Joe Dick Mobley, 05
March 2002, 2 weeks M2 spring break

Program/Organization: IHMEC
Dr. John W. McCall III, PhD. - Medical Anthropology
1301 Primacy Parkway
Memphis, TN 38119
Phone: (901) 685-1080


Havana

Trip description: Primary care in several Cuban villages, afternoon and evening house calls
Henry Coleman Herrod, '02
March-May 2002, 2 months as M4 elective

Program/Organization: MEDICC
Emory University School of Nursing Building
1520 Clifton Rd, Room 438
Atlanta, GA 30322-4027

Dominican Republic

Petionville, Haiti and the Dominican Republic

Trip description: Clinical and hospital experience with a team of health care providers
Allyson D. Schmitt, '05
March 2003, 1 week of M2 spring break

Program/Organization: Le Bon Samaritan
Dr. Mark Pinard, Directory
Le Bon Samaritan
15 Delmas/89
Petionville, Haiti
Email: hbsvol@aol.com

El Salvador

Chalchuapa

Trip description: Mission work and basic medical services
Luke Michael Webb, '02, Jason Logan, '02, Tom Collins, '02, Jonathan Glickstein, '02, Jennifer Cox, '04, Adam Esbenshade, '04, Liz Longbotham, '04, Shannon Longshore, '04, Rachael Smith, '04, Jennifer Anderson, '04, Clairalyn Baucem, '05, K.T. Park, '05, Chris Shen, '05, Cathie Scarborough, '05, Josh Spencer, '05, Candy Cole, '04D, Jayson Tabor, '04D, J.D. Selecman, '04D, Ivy Huggins, '04D, Adam Crow, '04D, Audrey McFadden, '04D, Mary Beth Spivy, '04D, Cindy Blaylock, '04PT, Fleix Vazquez, Grad. Stud.
March 2002, 1 week of spring break

Program/Organization: CMDA and Global Health Organization
GHO
P.O. Box 7500
Bristol, TN 37621-7500
Email: gho@cmdahome.org

Guatemala

Quetzaltenango

Trip description: Assisting Mayan-Quiche Indian with women's health issues, promoting prevention, medical Spanish
Jennifer Lynn Anderson, '04
August 2003, 3 weeks as M4 elective

Program/Organization: La Asociacion Pop Wuj
Shelley Peery, Directory
Pop Wuj
Palmera Calle, 17-72, Zona 1
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Phone: (502) 761-8286


Quetzaltenango

Trip description: Spanish language school and social service projects
Jennifer Susan Hyer, '03
April-May 2003, 1 month as M4 elective

Program/Organization: La Asociacion Pop Wuj
Shelley Peery, Directory
Pop Wuj
Palmera Calle, 17-72, Zona 1
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Phone: (502) 761-8286


Quetzaltenango

Trip description: learning medical Spanish, rural and urban health clinic
Lisa Buckingham, '06, Laura Ellen Griffith, '06, Sean Michael Lockwood, '06, Lauren Frances Melcher, '06
May-July 2003, 1 month of M1 summer

Program/Organization: La Asociacion Pop Wuj
Shelley Peery, Directory
Pop Wuj
Palmera Calle, 17-72, Zona 1
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Phone: (502) 761-8286


Antigua

Trip description: Spanish language school
Natasha Anudama Tejwani, '05
June-July 2002, 1 month of M1 summer

Program/Organization: AmeriSpan
GU: L-530
1325 NW 93 Ct. B-102
Miami, FL 33172
Email: info@amerispan.com
Phone: (502) 832-0164 or ext. 1692 or ext. 4864
Fax: (502) 832-1896


Guatemala City

Trip description: Ministry and clinical work
Laura Lynne Knight, '03, Leigh Ann Simpson, '03, March 2001, 1 week of M2 spring break

Program/Organization: CMDA and Global Health Outreach (GHO)
CMDA
P.O. Box 7500
Bristol, TN 37621

Honduras

Tegucigalpa

Trip description: Mission, medical work with orphans and prostitutes
M. David Boatright, '00, Jason Alton Logan, '02, March 2000
8 days of spring break

Program/Organization: CMDA
Ken Nippert, local director

Jamaica

Kingston

Trip description: "I was in Kingston for 2 weeks and spent a majority of the time playing with the children in the community. We stayed in a small mountain village (population 200), and during the day, we helped build a trench on the side of the road for rain run-off. I also checked the blood pressure of most adults in the community by going house to house."
Susan Sapp
Summer 2007, 2 weeks

Program/Organization: Global Volunteers
Website: www.globalvolunteers.org


Kingston

Trip description: Missionaries for the poor is an international Catholic Monastic Organization which aims to serve the poorest of the poorest. The organization was started in Kingston, Jamaica and now has centers all over the world. It is the brother version of Mother Teresa Charitable Trust. I was lucky enough to work at Kingston; the program there is very organized and they're used to having volunteers. Communication is great with the volunteer coordinator. The organization generally likes big groups, especially with medical training. Volunteers usually stay at the volunteer dorm and get meals. The only expense is transport to and from airport.

My experience was a bit different because I didn't stay at be volunteer dorm but staying at the dorm is the way to go. There are five centers each with different population of residents: kids, elder women, elder male, HIV residents. Groups of brothers are assigned to each center and go there daily to take care of the residents. I usually worked in a different center each day; I generally worked in the pharmacy with a brother; we would give out medications, clean wounds, and refill medications. I helped to feed the kids and some of the residents if they had difficulty in feeding. Every Thursday, I saw patients from the surrounding community at the free clinic at one of the centers, which was a wonderful experience. There would usually be other volunteers, some physicians, nurses, and other professionals. The volunteer coordinator was really nice and flexible. I was able to give a presentation to the brothers working in the clinic and pharmacies, go to a health fair, and even do an exercise class with some residents. We usually started each day with prayer and had prayer before lunch; prayer is an integral part of the day. All the brothers are very kind and hospitable. I had a wonderful experience and I highly recommend this organization.

Syeda Hamadani
Feb. 2012 as M4, 4 weeks

Program/Organization: Missionaries of the Poor
Website: missionariesofthepoor.org
Email: mopvisitors@missionariesofthepoor.org

Mexico

San Miguel

Student Name: Stefan Czestochowski

Trip Dates: June 7, 2012 to August 5, 2012

Med Spanish is a integrated learning experience combining training, service and language components. The first week was spent training as a first responder for the Mexican Red Cross. After training was completed schedules were created so that individuals could participate in daily Spanish classes focusing on medical Spanish. The afternoons were spent volunteering with the Red Cross responding to emergent calls or spent doing public health service projects around the city of San Miguel. I found the experience to be extremely rewarding and one that I will carry with me through my carrier in medicine. I would recommend this project for anyone interested in medical Spanish or volunteer work in Latin America.

Website: http://www.pace-medspanish.org/
Contact: info@pace-medspanish.org


San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico Program

Trip description: Three weeks of one-on-one Spanish lessons that were pretty well tailored to the student's needs for half a day, and the other half day was spent in clinical positions (Red Cross with the EMT's, the General Hospital emergency room, urgent care clinic, surgery, and labor and delivery wing, as well as specialist clinics like ENT and OBGYN.) A student's placement in a clinical position depends on how comfortable they are with Spanish and how at ease they feel about asking doctors in the hospital if they can shadow here or there. If you're a total beginner, you'll probably spend a good deal of time hanging out with the super cool EMTs at the Red Cross and riding out really fast in an ambulance to emergency calls when they happen
Julia McMillen
July-August 2007

Program Organization: MedSpanish Mexico
Phone: Sharon at (575) 799-3162
Email: info.medspanish@gmail.com
Website: www.medspanish.com


Ensenada

Trip Description: Learning medical Spanish, interviewing families, education on international health, ER and clinical work
Kathryn Jean Hayes, '06
July-August 2003, 3 weeks of M1 summer

Program(s)/Organization(s): Centro de Estudies, Universidad de Xochicalco
Dr. J. Dennis Mull, Director
Avenida San Francisco

Numero 1139, Fraccionamiento Mission
P.O. Box 1377
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Email: hazel@hsc.usc.edu
Phone: (323) 442-1325
Fax: (323) 442-3070


Zacatecas

Trip Description:  Jerri Ann and Johnny Rose, '03
Fall 2002, 1 month as M4 elective

Program/Organization: Zacatecas, Mexico Trip with Dr. Freddie Martin
Dr. Freddie Martin, Director


Tila Chiapas

Trip description: Medical, surgical, dental projects. Hospital work
Michael A. Falluco, '05
July 2002, 1 week of M1 summer

Program/Organization: IMA
Phone: (888) 698-9042


Ensenada

Trip description: Medical Spanish in a classroom and clinical setting
Maryanna Lee Barrett, '05, Sarah Jane Bryant, '05
July 2002, 3 weeks of M1 summer

Contact: Dr. Dennis Mull at University of Southern California
Email: hazel@usc.edu (secretary)
Website: www.medicalspanish.com


Guadalajara

Trip description: Pediatric hospital setting and community-based clinics, preventative medicine
Gustavo Lozada, '04, Benjamin Rushing Shellabarger, '04
June-July 2001, 1 month of M1 summer

Program/Organization: SALUD and AMSA at Universidad Autonomade Medicina de Guadalajara
Contact: Dr. McClary


Tijuana

Trip Description: Researched the HIV epidemic and risk factors in IVDU in Tijuana (including field work and interviews), and worked in a wound care clinic.
Courtney O'Connor '22

Summer 2019
Program/Organization: Proyecto El Cuete

Nicaragua

Managua and San Carlos

Trip description: Clinical and missionary work in villages
Emily Graham, '00
February 2000, 1 week as M4 elective

Program/Organization: Volunteers in Medical Missions (VIMM)
Contact: Montogmery C. Joseph
P.O. Box 756
Seneca, S.C. 29649

United States

Rosebud, South Dakota

Trip description: Research on antibiotics and otitis media, clinical experience, education on pediatric obesity
Deneta Howland, '03
May 2003, 1 month as M4 elective

Program/Organization: Rosebud Indian Health Service Hospital
Contact: Dr. Tim Ryschon
Soldier Creek Road
Rosebud, SD 57570
Phone: (605) 747-2231
Fax: (605) 747-2216


Oahu, Hawaii

Trip description: Working with underserved Native Hawaiian population, learning traditional Hawaiian medicine
James Jungyup Choo, '04
March 2004, 1 month as M4 elective

Program/Organization: University of Hawaii at Manoa, Dept of Native
Hawaiian Health
Marjorie Mau, director
677 Ala Moana Boulevard, Suite 1016B
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: (808) 587-8570
Email: dnhh@hawaii.edu
Fax: (808) 587-8565


May 26, 2022