Making the World a Better Place - Touro College

A Tale of Two Volunteers
TouroCOM Students Work Abroad
Each year, increasing numbers of
medical students at the Touro College
of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM)
in Harlem are choosing to spend their
breaks volunteering in health clinics
across the globe.
These hands-on learning experiences are fast becoming an
integral part of their education. Dr. Jerry Cammarata,
TouroCOM’s dean of student affairs, says, "It is important to
expose student doctors to the global crisis in health care
delivery, so they may see themselves as the responsible
change agents."
Further, these summer partnerships with third world
countries help serve the budding doctors’ capacities, no
matter where they eventually choose to practice. “They
sharpen student doctors’ sensitivity to the multicultural health
care delivery in our country as well," he says.
Here, Bannikov performed
full exams on these patients and
spent time organizing their pharmacy and
medical supplies. She also worked with a bedridden
patient who had had polio as a child and was now
infected with HIV. Rolling up her sleeves, Bannikov began
tending to this patient’s physical rehabilitation, applying what
she had been taught at TouroCOM’s Physical Diagnosis
Department and the Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine
Daniella Bannikov
Last summer, Daniella Bannikov, a second-year student in
TouroCOM’s Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program,
learned the difference that two weeks can make.
For the first leg of her trip to Costa Rica, the Canadian
native and three of her classmates met with a local doctor
and helped perform routine health checks in the community
at soup kitchens, churches and schools. The patients
Bannikov and her colleagues met with—for blood pressure
checks and heart, lung and abdominal exams—wouldn’t
otherwise have had regular access to this kind of basic care.
Bannikov says, “Working with these families really reminded
me what practicing medicine is about. It’s not about the money,
but about the difference you can make in a person’s life.”
The second week, Bannikov flew solo, working in a home
for HIV/AIDS patients, another population that didn’t have
regular access to general practitioners. Given the limited
resources, Bannikov quickly realized the necessity of wearing
many hats.
Daniella Bannikov, a student at TouroCOM, volunteering on a medical
mission in Costa Rica.
Department. “Within a week, she was able to eat and drink on
her own,” Bannikov says.
Time and resources permitting, Bannikov says she would
definitely volunteer again. As she prepares for her third year,
though, her energy is devoted to studying for her medical
boards as well as getting ready for rotations. Still, even if she
can’t travel abroad, Bannikov plans to volunteer locally.
She’s involved in the school’s Community Service Student
Subcommittee and Student Government Association. Part
of what drew her to TouroCOM, in fact, was its location. She
says, “I liked the idea of studying in Harlem and being able
to get involved in a large urban community.” Her forays into
civic engagement have been enriching. She says, “I am
having a great experience here.”
16 TOURO LINKS I SPRING 2013