Rachna Bali, a medical student at Touro University-California, talks about the Global Physicians Corps’, a non-profit NGO dedicated to improving the health care needs of people around the world, which was started by a group of students in 2005.

Mosquito Bed Nets Distribution: a program part of the Pediatrics Malaria Project; sponsored by the Global Physicians Corps

“Become the change you want to see.”  We have all heard this famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi.  But I ask the readers, how many of us take that extra step to become that change?  Here’s an example of a group of medical students who have taken on the responsibility of becoming the change they want to see in this world. 

The year was 2005 when a dozen American medical students-at the end of their first year-from Touro University, California, College of Osteopathic Medicine, embarked on an exciting and unpredictable medical mission to a hospital in a village named Shirati in the north-western part of Tanzania.  While in Shirati, students witnessed several preventable deaths that under normal circumstances with the availability of medical resources would not occur.  It was there, in a local pub-while chatting after a tough day at the hospital-that the Global Physicians Corps (also known as the GPC) was conceptualized.

The idea of a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to improving the healthcare needs of the people around the world was put into action by a few of the incoming first year medical students at Touro University-California.  These first year medical students came up with innovative ways of fundraising within and outside of the school during the spring of 2006 to ensure the continuity of projects that were initiated in the summer of 2005 as well as to start new projects in the summer of 2006 based on the recommendations from the local leaders and physicians in Shirati.  The Touro medical students held silent auctions during the school’s annual talent show, and requested donations from local businesses, colleagues, friends and family.  We nearly tripled the amount of money fundraised from the year before. 

During my first year of medical school in 2005-2006, I, along with the current GPC co-Presidents (Maria Alikakos and Arta Bakshandeh), a few of my classmates, and the Program Director (Dr. Eiman Mahmoud), accepted the responsibility of making the Global Physicians Corps a reality.  It was nearly a two year long process but success finally knocked at our door in November 2007 when we attained the official non-profit 501(c)3 status. 

The Global Physicians Corps’ mission is to establish a partnership amongst the local communities we serve as well as the academic institution in order to understand and address all factors attributing to global health issues while providing sustainable solutions to the delivery of health care in the underserved areas of the global community.  The GPC also aims to address the complex interplay between social, political, and economic factors that shape the health care system around the world.

The organization currently provides service at two sites: Shirati, Tanzania and Jimma, Ethiopia.  The ongoing projects include the Pediatrics Malaria Project, the SAFI (Schistosomiasis Awareness Fund Initiative) Project, the Modified Bike Project, Diabetes Control Initiative, Project Share, and the Helminth Project.  A project close to my heart is the Pediatrics Malaria Project as I initiated it during my visit to Shirati, Tanzania in the summer of 2006.  Based on the recommendations made by me upon the completion of my research on the malaria control measures and efficacy of its treatment in the pediatrics patients under the age of five, the hospital has since started the Maternal and Child Health Education Program, whereby mothers are instructed on preventive care, nutrition, and health awareness.  All of the projects mentioned above are associated with ongoing research in order to ensure their sustainability and assess their efficacy within the local communities.

Although the GPC has a long road ahead of it, I am confident that the organization will make a difference in the lives it will touch.  The dedicated, enthusiastic and passionate group of individuals who form the Global Physicians Corps will do justice to its mission.  And thus, I end this article by saying this is just the beginning…

Rachna Bali

4th year medical student at Touro University- California

National Officer for Medical Education at AMSA-IFMSA

bali.rachna@gmail.com

Rachna with the local Tanzanian kids at a soccer game

 Jon Mendelsohn from the Medical School for International Health, Israel, outlines a humanistic approach to medical education at his academic centre.

Is disease merely a physical problem, with ailing tissues and distorted biochemical pathways, or can other influences be involved in producing misalignment? Modern medicine is beginning to acknowledge that just a physical model of care does not completely provide restoration of health.  Anecdotal reports have been replaced with evidence from scientific research; there is interplay between body, mind, and spirit that affects health.

At the Medical School for International Health (MSIH) in Be’er Sheva, Israel, some students are working in this new paradigm.  Started with the backing of the school’s AMSA (American Medical Student Association) chapter in 2006, Students for Integrative Medicine is a group created to increase awareness of this approach to health.  The group aims to:

…provide exposure and wellness activities…so that students may become more knowledgeable in the world’s diverse healing systems and philosophies of medicine.

The group has offered numerous activities to meet this goal.  Students visited an integrative medicine clinic at a Jerusalem hospital to receive guidance in Acupuncture techniques and to discuss Homeopathy.  Guest lecturers have spoken on Guided Imagery, Hypnosis, and the use of laugher and humor in healing. Meditation during lunch has offered students a chance to decompress and relax after morning classes. MSIH students are not alone in this interest. Thirty-five AMSA chapters across North America have started integrative medicine groups with similar projects.

This shifting paradigm in the understanding of health has revolutionized undergraduate medical training. AMSA has been a leader in this movement with its Humanistic Medicine action committee.  They write, “…we advocate for patients and developing-physicians who consider healing to be a sacred, interpersonal experience between mindful and authentic human beings.” As a community of student activists, this forum offers integrative medicine education, mentorship contacts, project recommendations, and sponsors wellness retreats throughout the year.  An exciting opportunity was given to the AMSA foundation when it was awarded a $1.2 million grant in 2002 from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). This body of the NIH offered AMSA the ability to fund a CAM curriculum at six MD/DO programs in the United States.

In another effort in medical education, The Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine advocates for an integrative model of mind, body and spirit care. The Consortium contains thirty-nine members, including Stanford, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Columbia. The mission of the Consortium is to:

…help transform medicine and healthcare through rigorous scientific studies, new models of clinical care, and innovative educational programs that integrate biomedicine, the complexity of human beings, the intrinsic nature of healing and the rich diversity of therapeutic systems.

This community of medical education institutions represents a developing leap in today’s approach to the philosophy of undergraduate medical education.

Once relegated to the fringe of medical practice, spirituality in medicine is becoming a part of conventional training. Perhaps representing the boldest initiative in addressing the spiritual needs of patients in medical education, the George Washington University Institute for Spirituality and Health’s curriculum offers an approach to this kind of care.  For example, their FICA acronym is a tool used to take a “spiritual history” from a patient and asks about faith and belief, importance of these beliefs, membership in a spiritual or religious community, and assesses if the patient desire spiritual care from their health provider. Medical schools like Florida, Minnesota, UCLA, Vermont and Colorado have received grants from George Washington to begin offering this curriculum.

At the Medical School for International Health, students are working hard with the help of AMSA’s resources to raise awareness of integrative medicine. The administration’s central philosophy of teaching global medicine and cross-cultural care makes this a natural process. With the help of dedicated faculty members at MSIH and in many other schools and medical centers the divide between conventional thought and an integrative approach continues to shrink. 

Jon Mendelsohn, MS III

Medical School for International Health

Ben Gurion University of the Negev

In collaboration with Columbia University Health Sciences

Be’er Sheva, Israel

jsmendelsohn@gmail.com

Sravani Mudumbi tells how the Universidad Iberoamericana chapter of AMSA has been doing outreach work in Santo Domingo

The group of doctors from the Shriner’s hospital for children, has been unquestionably improving quality of life of children by providing first-class medical care to low-income family children in the Dominican Republic for more than 25 years now.  Their area of expertise includes orthopedic problems and spinal cord injuries and provide this aid free-of-charge.  Several times a year, outreach clinics are held in Santo Domingo, when the hospital’s medical staff and assistants provide treatment and evaluate children.  The next outreach clinic will be held in June at CEDIMAT (Plaza de la Salud).  The members of Universidad Iberoamericana chapter of AMSA has been working with them for three years now by volunteering their free time as bilingual translators while accumulating clinical experience in the field of their interest, may it be orthopedic surgery, pediatrics or public health. I describe my experience below. (more…)

AMSA officers Mara Weinstein, Moises Velez, Christina Ferrucci, and Ashley Jones discuss how the AMSA Chapter at the American University of Antigua has helped teenage girls    

AMSA Officers and members at the “Welcome Home” gathering for Tirisa at the V.C. Bird International Airport in Antigua.. From Left to Right (Bottom row) Jasmine Riviere, Christina Ferrucci, Tirisa (post-surgery), Mara Weinstein, Ashley Jones, Moises Velez. (Middle Row) Major Carmen Mott, Keri Walker, Brittany Davis, Edel Jose, Leonard McLean. (Top Row) Sunshine Girl, Shephali Kadia, Ifrah Abdi.

The Salvation Army’s Sunshine Home for Girls is an interim housing facility in Antigua, for young girls from the ages of 10-17 years old.  Social services remove these girls from inappropriate homes to provide them with a better environment.  The American Medical Student Association’s Chapter at the American University of Antigua (AUA) has worked closely with this home by mentoring the girls so they can establish the necessary values as they enter their teen years.  Every Friday afternoon, the girls take a bus to the AUA campus and meet with their student mentors to participate in various activities.  Some evenings are set aside for interactive workshops to enhance leadership skills, improving self-esteem and learning about sexual education.  The other evenings are dedicated to teaching the girls valuable computer skills such as creating power-point presentations and navigating through the internet.  (more…)

Megan Maraynes discusses how the American Medical Students Association (AMSA) inspires medical students to take a global perspective

AMSA’s mission consists of a commitment to advancing the field of medicine and delivering health care to all people. It emphasizes students’ exposure to the ethical and moral obligations of medicine and strives to tackle world health problems. AMSA is self-governed by students and provides countless leadership opportunities for members to take an active role in shaping current and future policy.  Because of AMSA’s dedication to global healthcare issues, it is not surprising that it is not just for students from American Medical schools.  There are over 40 medical school chapters outside of the USA with over 4,000 international members. (more…)

(adopted 5^th March 2008)

We, the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA), are an internationally diverse group of future health professionals concerned with global health issues. We believe that health is a universally recognised, fundamental human right that transcends the boundaries of state, culture, religion, political affiliation, as well as economic and social condition. We protest that this right to access adequate healthcare has not been guaranteed and delivered to all. We make this declaration in the IFMSA spirit of solidarity.

We believe, as stated in the WHO constitution, that the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition. (more…)