Nearly 70 UNMC faculty and students will provide medical service work during spring break trips to Jamaica, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Winnebago Indian Reservation and southern Mexico.
“Students see and experience the health care issues that exist in these communities and serve a diverse, and often underserved, population,” said Sara Pirtle, coordinator of International Studies and Programs. “It has a profound impact on everyone involved.”
The trips are expected to serve 1,500 to 2,000 patients, collectively, via clinical and public health services during the spring break week, Pirtle said.
“This is hardly typical of what is traditionally associated with spring break activities of post high school students,” she said.
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Participants on the international trips will take medical and pharmaceutical supplies with them, both for immediate use during the week and for donation to the host sites for future use.
The international trips to Nicaragua, Jamaica and Costa Rica work with approval of the Ministry of Health of the respective country, Pirtle said. The Nicaragua, Jamaica and Mexico trips use the same site every year. The Costa Rica trip is aligned with a non-profit agency that has served the same sites in Costa Rica for several years.
Several students from the Student Alliance for Global Health trips will blog about their experiences. Their stories can be read at http://blog.unmc.edu/outreach/ (Note: Depending on time and Internet capabilities, students may choose to post their stories when they return home).
UNMC students have participated in the SAGH spring break service trips since 1996.