During the annual spring break, many college students head for a sunny
beach and good times. But some University of Nebraska Medical Center students
have other ideas on how to spend their spring break. They would prefer
spending 10-hour workdays at a small health clinic in Jamaica, or walking
house to house in the highlands of Nicaragua seeking children and families
with at-risk health issues.
When members of the Student Alliance for Global Health (SAGH) provide
these needed services, every single item they use come through donations,
and December is the key month for their annual donation drive.
SAGH is a student-run organization that functions under the guidance
of the International Studies and Programs department. The goal is simple
incorporate international health issues into everyday student and community
life.
These medical missions are important because they complement the traditional
UNMC curriculum, by exposing the students to the delivery of health care
in underdeveloped countries, said Sara Pirtle, director of International
Studies and Programs. Both missions work out of clinics that serve very
poor populations, so the medicines and supplies that we bring down are
vital to the survival of these clinics.
In Jamaica, the clinic functions primarily during visits by outside
medical missions. In Nicaragua, fortunately the government is able
to supply the vaccines for our field trips, but the clinic stay opens six
days a week because of the on-going donations of supplies and money
received from Omaha and eastern Nebraska throughout the year.
About 20 medical students are selected each year to accompany three
members of the department of family medicine faculty to the little Jamaican
clinic. The physicians are professor Paul Paulman, M.D., Associate
Professor Jeff Hill, M.D. and House Officer Matt Beacom, M.D.
Another group of 9 students will venture to Nicaragua under the guidance
of Marvin Bittner, M.D., adjunct associate professor in internal medicine;
Polly Hulme, Ph.D, assistant professor at the College of Nursing; and Pirtle.
The Jamaica medical team, which is comprised solely of medical students,
will serve more than 500 patients during a six-day stay. The students alternate
10-hour shifts at the clinic with visits to a nearby orphanage with 80
girls, ages 5 to 18. The UNMC team also visits the local school.
At both locations, the team teaches basic nutrition and hygiene; gives
examinations for common pediatric diseases; and most importantly, dispense
medications, toiletries, shoes and clothing, used eyeglasses, and even
used sporting equipment all of which is donated in the United States
and flown to Jamaica.
The Nicaragua medical team, open to all UNMC students, spends a week
visiting a number of poor communities, examining entire families in their
own homes and dispensing vaccinations, anti-parasite pills, vitamin A and
fluoride treatments. The UNMC students live with Nicaraguan families
and also spend an overnight 12-hour shift on-call with Nicaraguan medical
students in Managua, the capital city, at the governments leading womens
and childrens hospital.
The 2000 SAGH fund-raising and donation drive is currently underway.
This annual drive is critical to success of both the Jamaica and Nicaragua
missions. Every medical item used during the missions, from drugs to bandages,
rubber gloves to Q-tips, to recreational equipment, clothing and dolls,
are donated by the public. The missions cannot be done without the
support of the charitable contributions received primarily during the month
of December.
SAGH members sell Nebraska T-shirts and sweatshirts every Friday from
12 to 1 p.m. outside the Wittson Hall Amphitheater. There are donation
boxes located in the Wittson Hall Amphitheater and in the Eppley Science
Center Room 2009. These boxes are for clothes, shoes, used
eye glasses, and new, unopened toiletries such as soap, shampoo, feminine
hygiene pads and tampax, toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss, and
sporting goods, especially soccer balls and basketballs. The larger
sport balls can be deflated and flattened for easier handling and increased
storage.
There is an extensive list of medications requested. All expiration
dates on the medications must be later than April 2001. All medications
and drugs must be donated by Jan. 15 because Jamaican law requires
that they be sent in advance, cataloged and approved by the government
so they will be available for use when the medical team visits several
months later. The medical supply list for both missions includes
aspirin, Tylenol, childrens Tylenol, ibuprofen, antibiotics, antifungals
(topical, oral, shampoos), antihypertensives, oral hypoglycemics (and any
other diabetic medications), asthma/allergy medications, topical steroids,
antibiotic ointment, multivitamins (adult and children), prenatal vitamins,
cold and flu medications, thyroid medications, headache medications, oral
contraceptives, and lice shampoo/medications. In addition, each mission
has requests ranging from rubber gloves to medical textbooks and manuals
on infectious diseases and pediatrics.
For a more detailed list of medication/drug requests and specifications
needed for the Jamaica, clinic, contact Marc Carlson at 345-6922 or Ellen
Chan at 898-5757. For details on Nicaragua, contact Pirtle at 559-2924.
The missions to Jamaica and Nicaragua are unique experiences for UNMC
med students, said Jill McGee, second-year student and SAGH coordinator
for this years donation drive. We accept cash donations, as well.
We pay for our own airfare, food and lodging, and the cash donations are
used to reimburse each student, even if only a few dollars can be given
back to each participant.
Also, we know December is the holiday season and many people have so
many requests for their donations. But January and February are extremely
busy academic months for students, especially med students, so we try to
collect and catalog and pack everything for shipping as early into January
as possible. We will take medications and drug donations until Jan.
15 and all other supplies until Feb. 28. Thats why we are
encouraging supporters of this wonderful program to try to respond our
requests in the coming month, if at all possible.
Anyone interested in donating cash should make the check out to SAGH
(memo Jamaica or memo Nicaragua.). For more information, contact
McGee at 346-6978 or Pirtle.