In the News

A novel partnership with a microfinance organization offers student finance talent to resource-limited communities in Central America.

Many have written on the wide inequities reflected in student participation in international education programmes, despite years of efforts dedicated to increasing student diversity, staff hires and other approaches. There are practices and programmes in international education, as elsewhere in the academy, that must be critically examined to address racist outcomes and results.

The award provides full funding for the graduate program of the student’s choosing at Stanford University. Uchitel is the seventh Duke student to win the award. She will use the scholarship to pursue an medical degree at Stanford School of Medicine.

The award provides full funding for the graduate program of the student’s choosing at Stanford University. Uchitel is the seventh Duke student to win the award. She will use the scholarship to pursue a medical degree at Stanford School of Medicine.

USciences Global Medical Brigades chapter was scheduled for an in-person brigade to Panama in May 2020 but due to unprecedented circumstances all in-person brigades were suspended. Global Medical Brigades uses a holistic model to meet community health and economic needs, and is almost entirely funded through volunteers’ funds and donations. Due to the pandemic, volunteers could not actively participate to make a difference in urban and rural communities. To continue to ensure people living in communities with limited access to care and healthcare professionals, Global Medical Brigades implemented telebrigades. Medical Telebrigades through GMB are week-long opportunities where students can virtually participate in medical clinics in a developing country. Students have the opportunity to shadow local doctors through a secure telemedical consultation with patients from the respective community. Students have the opportunity to interact with Community Health Workers and are empowered to make sustainable changes in the respective community’s health.

“Global Brigades is an international student-led movement that strives to implement holistic models around the globe,” Negosian said on her website. “In our Telebrigade, we engineered a pipeline for water in Cerro De Agua, a region in Jinotega, Nicaragua that lacked infrastructure for water.”

A Tamaqua woman who is a senior at Villanova University will travel to Panama next month to provide health care services to underprivileged areas.

The LSU chapter of the Global Water Brigades traveled to Panama from March 13 to March 19 to repair a water system for a rural indigenous community in Embera Puru in the Darjen region. This trip was part of a larger effort the Global Brigades is making to assist this impoverished area.

Have you ever considered volunteering? Whether it’s for a church, school, or another place, many organizations benefit from (and in some cases, completely depend on) volunteers to help. Volunteers also benefit from donating their time and effort to a cause they support: they gain a better understanding of the situation and culture surrounding the cause –– especially if it’s a volunteer program abroad. If you volunteer in a country where another language is spoken, you’ll also probably start to pick it up and actually learn it!

Global Medical Brigades is an international movement of students and medical professionals working alongside local communities and staff to implement sustainable health systems. The PLU chapter is a student-run organization that strives to promote global health equality and connects students with opportunities to travel internationally to provide assistance through clinics and public health activities. The PLU chapter also functions as a support and resource network for pre-med students and connects students with alumni doctors and medical students.