In the News

“Thirty-two PURPLEfect people, representing grades 8-12, will volunteer in refugee shelters in Athens. In addition, Purple Lightning will visit a few Greek islands and experience a range of cultural activities.

STEMCivics students travel as volunteers for Squads Abroad, a worldwide effort that connects students to improving communities while enjoying a culturally-enriched journey.

Three students at SKC are making a name for themselves by creating an opportunity within the nursing school for students to get hands-on experience overseas.

Part of the Global Brigades initiative, third year nursing students Melissa Oden, Michelle Zempel, and Stephanie Robinson will lead a local cohort of 12 students lending medical help in Greece this July. Not only will the three be some of the first graduates of SKC’s new four-year direct admit BSN degree program, but they’re also the first to have initiated a project like this for the nursing program.

After graduating with his Honours Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto at Scarborough in 2014, Dr. Iskander went on to earn his medical degree from the American University of Antigua in 2020. He then began a Surgical residency before moving to Scranton, PA to pursue Internal Medicine.

Dr. Iskander attributes his success to his passion for his career, empathy, patient interactions, and community work environments. He is involved with several philanthropic endeavors, including The Global Medical Brigades, with whom he has helped coordinate and participate in medical expeditions.

In a two-month period, That Studio transformed a 100 sq.m. apartment in Metaxourgeio Square, Athens into Global Brigades polyclinic for vulnerable populations, specialised on refugees and asylum seekers, aiming to create a safe place for patients through a low-cost, sustainable design process.

In May 2022, UCity’s GMB volunteers visited the community Chirijuyu in Guatemala, where they were able to provide 148 medical consultations, 118 vision screenings, 16 pap smears and 15 health education workshops, according to Patel.

Steve and Colleen are on the podcast today to discuss their work with Eskala. Listen in to our discussion around supporting economic development to eradicate poverty, expanding a business model into multiple countries through community empowerment, choosing a for-profit vs. nonprofit structure for an organization, crowdfunding as a loan debt model, and more.

As the fall semester at Auburn University begins, there is a group of pre-health students eagerly awaiting the early weeks of December — and not just because of the break.

Global Medical Brigades, an international non-profit that serves a communities’ healthcare needs, has its very own chapter here on The Plains. The president of Auburn’s chapter, Juliet Cannizzo, senior in biomedical sciences, and other volunteers are overwhelmed with excitement for the winter brigade to Athens, Greece.

Cannizzo stresses the importance of GMB, stating that there are “communities with restricted access to healthcare that need clinics set up to try and equalize global healthcare.”

She believes that GMB sets itself apart from other healthcare organizations because it “has a lot of branches, including medical brigades, dental brigades, public health, water, engineering, business and legal.”

Spears isn’t the only student on Marquette’s campus passionate about giving back to her community. Max Mantych, a senior in the College of Health Sciences, said he recently created a branch of Marquette Global Brigades, an international non-profit which develops partnerships with rural communities around the world.

The branch, called Public Health Telebrigade, is a sustainable development volunteer program that is entirely virtual. Mantych, the club’s campus chairperson, said his biggest advice for other students interested in starting organizations was to start the process as early as possible.