Purdue Med/Dent Brigade December 2013

Start Date: Dec 16, 2013 12:00 AM
End Date: Dec 22, 2013 12:00 AM

Medical Brigades at Purdue University is a discipline of Global Brigades, the world's largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization. The Purdue University chapter systematically works with more than 350 other university groups around the world to deliver and implement one of nine skill-based programs that benefit more than 130,000 Honduran, Panamanian, and Ghanaian community members annually.

Volunteers on the Medical and Dental Brigades will be working closely together to provide quality health initiatives to a community that otherwise has limited access to health care. Volunteers will spend three days in a community in order to optimize the amount of time patients are able to spend with the physicians and dentists. Each patient will receive a physician consultation, teeth cleaning and a fluoride treatment as well as have access to pap smears, prostate exams and restorative dental care as necessary. Volunteers will have the opportunity to take patient vitals, obtain patient history and current symptoms, shadow and assist licensed physicians and dentists, participate in preventative education, and fill prescriptions under a licensed pharmacist. Volunteers will become familiar with the prevalent health issues in their community and learn about how to prevent and treat those illnesses. These brigades provide each volunteer with the opportunity to make a tangible impact on a specific community while gaining real life experience in the field of international medicine and dentistry.