University of Pittsburgh Medical Brigade to Honduras May 2015

Start Date: May 11, 2015 12:00 AM
End Date: May 17, 2015 12:00 AM

Global Brigades offers 7-9 day Medical Brigades throughout the year in Honduras, Panama and Nicaragua. The Medical Brigade lasts 7 days in Honduras. Upon arrival in Honduras, Global Brigades staff pick up students from the airport and transport them to a safe and secure compound where they will stay for the entirety of the brigade. Each day, volunteers and staff travel alongside each other, to and from the communities to carry out projects. Student activities include:
- Sorting medications
- Cultural immersion day
- Triaging patients
- Vision examinations
- Systematic organization of patient information
- House calls
- Dental + OBGYN assistance
- Physician observation
- Gathering prescriptions

Each of the partner communities receives a brigade approximately twice a year. Between brigades, the in-country team maintains relationships with the communities to provide follow-up and to conduct Community Health Worker (CHW) trainings to empower local leaders to sustain a consistent level of healthcare. Electronic patient records are collected for future visitations and to monitor overall community health trends.

For the University of Pittsburgh, Global Medical Brigades isn't about rescuing those less fortunate or imposing western medicine on locals. It isn't about fulfilling a savior-complex. As an integral piece of the holistic model, its aim is to address the disparity in communities in which access to healthcare is nearly impossible—either due to understaffed health clinics, geographical barriers, or financial burden. By collaborating with resident community health workers, international and local physicians, and student volunteers, access to healthcare is greatly improved through an economically sustainable model.