Student Organizations: Medical Students Seek Global Impact
Sujal Parikh receiving thanks from
Global REACH Interim Director
Tim Johnson, MD, for his leadership
as SAGR co-coordinator in the 08-9
academic year.
Student Alliance for Global REACH (SAGR) is the medical student division of Global REACH. They are a group of students committed to expanding opportunities for students to participate in international health-related activities during their training, while at the same time addressing core issues surrounding global health disparities and inequality.
In addition to group trips, SAGR has also partnered with the American Medical Student Association’s International Health Task Force, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, and the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations. SAGR has coordinated lunchtime seminars, worked to address issues surrounding medical supply redistribution, worked to expand the Spanish speaking courses offered at the medical school, and they are in the process of developing a needs assessment survey of medical students.
SAGR is actively involved in various projects. To get involved, contact the leader of the project in which you are interested in.
Coordinators:
Ian May Hasan Siddiqi
iancmay@umich.edu hsiddiqi@umich.edu
Historian:
Jessica Nelson
jlnelso@umich.edu
Speaker Chairs:
Jennifer Bass Susie Mead
jenbass@umich.edu sfmead@umich.edu
Community Relations Chair:
Khooshbu Shah
khoosh@umich.edu
International Health Education Chairs:
Julia DePorre Sonali Palchaudhuri
juliadep@umich.edu sonalipc@umich.edu
Calendar Chair:
Cordelie Witt
cewitt@umich.edu
Medical Redistribution Program Chairs:
Adeel Khan Tina Martinek
aamkhan@umich.edu martinek@umich.edu
For more information on SAGR, contact the Student Alliance for Global REACH executive board at greach_exec@umich.edu
Amy Li, Malani Gupta, Nathaniel
Schuster,and Christina Li sit down
with Dr. Nielson during their 2008
service and learning trip to Cuba. Students for Jamaica is an annual trip to Hagley Gap, Jamaica, where students participate in a basic health care clinic.
Health in Action visits Rancho al Medio in the Dominican Republic, where students conduct a week-long clinic, serve patients, provide public health education, and distribute donated multivitamins, medications, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste and formula.
Project Alajuelita takes place in Los Pinos, Costa Rica with the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children, where they provide basic health care to children
in a primary care setting, carry out community surveys and health education initiatives to improve the overall quality of health.
The Quito Project is an annual trip to Ecuador with an interdisciplinary team of students. Activities include a week-long dental clinic, a weekly
vision clinic, dispensing donated essential medicines, and tutoring in math, reading and writing. In past years, the Quito Project has seen more than 2,000 patients,
created electronic medical records for all of them, constructed a community bathroom, and constructed a children’s library.
Lora Ryzhkova and Diana
Spahlinger of the Belize
trip,
interacting with a patient.
Project Suyana is a non-profit, non-govermental organization at the University of Michigan devoted to working with rural Peruvian communities to improve local health care. Suyana ("hope" in Quechua) is currently working with the Ministry of Health and the Regional Hospital of Puno, Perú, to lower increasing infant and maternal mortality rates by focusing on obstetric/gynecological health.
Trip to Belize includes a group of medical students who will join a team of health professionals on a nine-day trip. The trip includes in-home screenings, overall family health evaluation, over-the-counter medication distribution and education, and setting up field clinics for the provision of basic health care.
Global REACH is a now a member of Global Health Education Consortium.
Medical students can obtain their free membership by registering online.
GHEC's student members are added to the student listserve and become
eligible to apply for programs like the Carole M. Davis scholarship, which
gives two mini-scholarships a year for overseas global health experiences; and
funds to support their own student-run global health conferences.
Please note that the ISF membership runs from January 1 to December 31 of
each year. Students that join GHEC under your umbrella membership must
renew, or "reactivate" their memberships at the start of each year by
filling out the form on the website. ISF free memberships do not apply to
residents.
