In the News

In the fall of 2021, Chris Facenda-Torres arrived at Penn State’s campus after a freshman year lost to COVID-19. With things mostly back to normal, he browsed the Involvement Fair and came across the Penn State Global Medical Brigades.

Though he hoped the organization had an education chapter to complement his secondary education major, Facenda-Torres found himself interested in the medical chapter.

In 2003, Shital Chauhan Vora, H Sci ’04, PT ’06, had a vision to create an immersion experience for students to travel to Central America to provide important care to those in need and instill best health practices in impoverished communities.

Over 20 years later, students in the College of Health Sciences continue Vora’s work, but with an additional context in mind: this year’s mission theme, en todo amar y servir or “in everything to love and serve.”

Learning often takes place in a lab, but Baylor students have the opportunity to provide direct patient care to people in Panama. In partnership with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas chapter, Baylor students can volunteer with Global Medical Brigades — an international movement advocating for sustainable health care systems — to gain hands-on experience in the medical field.

Since Baylor does not have its own Global Medical Brigades chapter, Plano junior Tyler Selkin partnered with Las Vegas junior Macy Perkes, a former Baylor student who transferred to UNLV, to participate in the Panama trip.

A group of UPEI students is preparing for a trip across the Atlantic Ocean to offer volunteer medical services.

The group, known as UPEI Medical Brigades, partners with Global Brigades, an international non-profit that provides health and economic assistance for communities across the globe. This year they are going to Ghana.

On March 30 the UPEI group held a craft market, to raise money for their journey, which departs on May 25. Their goal is to raise $115,000 to cover expenses for 30 volunteers, $20,000 has already been raised.

A group of Prince Edward Island students are looking to bring medical aid to disadvantaged communities a world away, for the third year in a row.

The University of Prince Edward Island Medical Brigades held a craft fair this weekend, where they collected donations at the door.

The money goes to help the students travel to Ghana, along with medical professionals and equipment, to help improve the lives of people living in poverty in the country.

Jaiden Asch traveled to Haiti with his church to aid in the construction of an orphanage during his senior year of high school.

Asch, a second-year studying finance, said the experience launched his desire to work in international development. He is now the co-president of the Global Business Brigades chapter at Penn State.

Business Brigades is one of several entities under Global Brigades, “an international movement of university students and professionals building economic opportunities in the developing world.”

Delara Rajabi Abhari ’23, MPH ’24, is an advocate for global health both inside and outside the classroom. Last summer, she brought both together when she finished her public health science and master of public health finals and got on a plane with 20 fellow students headed to Athens, Greece. Delara spent a month providing medical services to refugees in the region as president of UMD’s Global Brigades chapter, a nonprofit organization of student volunteers and medical professionals who work alongside local communities and staff to implement sustainable health systems.

The Marquette business brigade visited two cities in Panama Jan. 7- Jan. 14 to help local banks and businesses learn about accounting, leadership and marketing.

While visiting Panama over winter break, 10 business students not only got the opportunity to educate local businesses, but they also learned a lot from the locals they served.

The Marquette business brigade visited two cities in Panama Jan. 7- Jan. 14 to help local banks and businesses learn about accounting, leadership and marketing.

Cost is the biggest barrier for care, says Adrienne Ciaravella, Guelph Medical Brigades volunteer.

Adrienne Ciaravella didn’t know what to expect when she travelled to Guatemala last year as a volunteer providing medical care but she’s about to do it all over again in Honduras.

Ciaravella joined the Guelph Medical Brigades in her first year as a biomedical student at the University of Guelph. It is a local chapter of Global Brigades which aims to provide holistic and sustainable solutions to medical care in underprivileged communities around the world.

Students at Methodist College are taking the skills learned in the classroom and applying them to improve the lives of people around the world with the Peoria area’s first Global Brigade.

Established during the Fall 2023 semester, members of the group will travel to the South American country of Panama to help underserved communities with limited access to healthcare.