Surgery and Healing in the Developing World - Dartmouth-Hitchcock

The Impact of a Volunteer Medical Mission
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unusual settings; (2) A very intensive learning experience in another culture across
language, economic, political barriers to health care access, in a profound orientation
of their place in the world as health professionals in the context of global needs;
(3) A medical and cultural adventure in a formative period in their career before the
crushing obligations of time and intensity in post-graduate specialization and increasing
domestic and financial commitments.
The constraints toward wider participation in these highly valued experiences by
a larger number of students included: (1) financial burden (remarked by nearly all,
but by many as the single most insurmountable barrier); (2) lack of encouraging
mentor or network of connections that might authorize and support a high value
educational experience in unfamiliar settings; (3) fears of personal insecurity regarding
health concerns or safety in unstable environments.
In addressing these concerns, I have offered mentoring to all, and encouragement
for most who are fit volunteers for such service on appropriate motivations;
however the financial constraints are the ones that have most strained both student
and faculty resourcefulness. I had previously assured each applicant who has sought
eagerly to participate with two basic rules: (1) I will never provide them with the
first dollar for their support, and after their good faith “best efforts” at collecting
sponsorship, (2) money alone will not be the reason that they do not go. With the
swelling number of applicants and growing number of participants, the mentoring
and personal supervision are nearing their elastic limits, and the financial assurances
have been exceeded. Many qualified applicants have been turned down on the basis
of the inability to complete the minimal required financial costs of the travel. A
basic scholarship for students competitively arranged for partial support of their
travel expenses will make it possible for selected qualified applicants to experience
this kind of medical school epiphany that I consider one of the most singularly
valuable lessons of their entire medical careers.
Appendix D
Medical Relief Mission to the Dr/Haiti Personnel
Glenn W. Geelhoed, M.D., Team Leader, the only Licensed Practitioner
Huda Ayas, Office of International Medicine, Administrative Director
Laurie Kates, GWUMC, rising senior medical student, first team captain
Mike Williams, Howard University Junior Medical Student, previously in DR
Duc Minh Vo, GWUMC, rising senior Medical Student, third team captain
Lindsay Eisler, GWUMC, rising sophomore medical student
Vesta Salehi, GWUMC, rising sophomore medical student
Anisha Dua, GWUMC, rising sophomore medical student
Siavash Foolidian, GWUMC, rising sophomore medical student
Anthony Adelkun, GWU first year Med Student
Bryan J. Schaaf, MPH student, former Peace Corps Volunteer Thumonde
Sonbol Shahid-Salles, MPH student, Iranian-born and Spanish-speaking
Martha Wood, MPH recent graduate, employed in NGO
Neely Dahl, MPH student, anticipating Peace Corps appointment
Suzie Zeiger, Haitian Creole translator and Spanish translator helper
Zeb Whitaker, an EMT, active in Shenandoah Search and Rescue
Adam Benzig, EMT, Paramedic, potential PA applicant
Sarah Caton, GWUMC Microbiology Employee and premed student
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