Caitlin Van Luyk

San Diego, CA

Passionate About:

traveling, hiking, animals, community service, good food

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My Affiliations
Organization: Global Brigades USA
Dental Brigades at San Diego State University
Website: http://dentalbrigades.org

Organization: Global Brigades USA
Program: Dental Brigades

About Us

San Diego State University is a chapter of Global Dental Brigades, an international movement of students and medical professionals working alongside local communities and staff to implement sustainable health systems. We work in remote, rural, and under resourced communities in Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua and Ghana who would otherwise have limited to no access to health care. Each community receives a brigade every 3 to 4 months where hundreds of patients are provided access to dental & medical care and volunteers deliver public health workshops. Electronic patient records are collected for future visitations and to monitor overall community health trends. nnIn conjunction with our Medical & Dental Programs, Global Brigades also supports communities with economic development, sanitation and clean water projects, and uniquely implements these programs in a holistic model to meet a community’s health and economic goals. Our model systematically builds community ownership and collaboratively executes programs with the end goal of sustainably evolving to a relationship of impact monitoring. To learn more, please visit www.globalbrigades.org.




Upcoming Initiatives

San Diego State University Dental Brigade Greece May 2025

 Global Brigades offers 7-9 day Dental Brigades throughout the year in Honduras, Panama and Ghana. Dental Brigade volunteers have the opportunity to shadow licensed dentists in urgent and preventive dental services in communities with limited access to healthcare. Dental Brigades also focuses on prevention with dental hygiene workshops. Each of our partner communities receives a brigade approximately twice a year. Electronic patient records are collected for future visitations and to monitor overall community health trends. A typical brigade structure includes three clinic days and a Holistic Model Day. This unique day allows for Medical/Dental brigaders to experience one of Honduras’ other programs: Architecture, Business, Engineering, Microfinance, Public Health or Water Brigades. Through these Holistic Model Days, volunteers are able to tackle non-health related issues that are often times the root cause of common illnesses seen on Medical and Dental Brigades. The main health concerns in our communities include diarrhea, respiratory illnesses, waterborne illnesses and abdominal pain.