Student Alliance for Global Health
The UNMC Student Alliance for Global Health brings together UNMC students, faculty and community members to learn about global health issues and to support global health initiatives at home and abroad.
This multidisciplinary organization features speakers and informative presentations on global health and medicine. Each year, the Office of Global Engagement and the student alliance sponsor a philanthropy project
Our Mission
To bring together UNMC students, faculty and the surrounding community to learn about global health issues and to encourage involvement in efforts to support global health initiatives at home and abroad.
In 1995, a group of first-year medical students wanted to join an organization that offered the opportunity to learn about and become involved in global health opportunities. When they realized that no such group existed on campus, these students formed the Student Alliance for Global Health (SAGH) with the help of UNMC Programs Manager, Sara Pirtle.
Investing in the health of our community is to invest in the health of the global community. Recent work by SAGH includes:
- Ongoing support of a drive-up food pantry at Clair Memorial United Methodist Church
- Annual toy drives for children in Ukraine
Get Involved
UNMC community:
- Sign up for updates through ENGAGE
- Watch for monthly meetings, global health journal club, volunteer opportunities and more
- Sign up for medical Spanish classes
Omaha community:
- Donate to our fundraisers
- Support our medical service trips and our partnerships with such causes as Aqua Africa and the Fistula Foundation
Medical Spanish Classes
The student alliance and the Office of Global Engagement arrange Medical Spanish classes as virtual electives, with live instruction delivered via zoom by linguistic instructors from our partner university in Mexico. The classes that typically begin in September and last for 8-10 weeks.
Both beginner and intermediate options are available. Both classes require a small fee. Information is distributed in August at the Student Organization Fair and by email a few times a year.
Medical Service Spring Break Trips
These trips have been on hold since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but we look forward to offering the trips again.
The first student alliance spring break trip was held in 1996, and for many years, the locations of the trips were Jamaica, Nicaragua and a Native American reservation. In 2019, a new partnership was established in Colombia. In 2020, before the trips were canceled, they were planned for Jamaica, Colombia and the Winnebago Reservation in northeast Nebraska.