Amid the uproar over health care in the U.S., two medical student delegations are traveling to El Salvador, and, for the first time, Honduras, to provide basic medical aid.
Graduate student Megan Fitzpatrick founded the International Medical Delegation program, which makes annual trips to El Salvador, while she was an undergraduate student three summers ago.
Lilliam Aguilar, who was part of last year’s delegation, created a UNM branch delegation of Operation Smile, a children’s charity treating facial deformities such as cleft lips and cleft palates all around the world, which will travel to Honduras.
The two programs are accepting applications until Friday. The IMD program is accepting 10 delegates and the Operation Smile program is accepting up to 14 people.
Christian Garcia, president of the IMD 2010 delegation, said the program’s aim is to help the impoverished population of El Salvador.
“Our main focus is to provide medical aid and health education to rural, underserved areas in El Salvador,” he said.
According to the UNM IMD Web site, the state of La Paz in El Salvador has only five doctors for a population of 30,000, and the average El Salvadorian family lives on $3 a day, with little to no access to medical professionals.
Students raise funds for the trip through much of the year and work with the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights for the Children of El Salvador to finance the program.
Fundraisers in the past have included concerts with local bands, such as Asper Kourt and Le Chat Lunatique, and the Miles for Medicine run, with more than 160 participants.
Garcia said the delegation is helping El Salvadorian locals and doctors secure clean drinking water to improve the country’s overall health for the first time.
“(We) will aim to provide more biofilters to more households and explore other ways of facilitating clean water in the rural areas we visit,” Garcia said.
Students who participate come from a range of backgrounds and majors, from pre-medical to political science, from chemical engineering to anthropology, Garcia said.
Although the program is still young, its impact on UNM students who participate is great, said Junior Chris Plaman. Plaman went on the trip during his freshman and sophomore years.
“It makes you more aware of the global situation and it makes you more aware that not everyone has the same situation as you have …,” he said. “It teaches you to appreciate the little things in life that other people take for granted.”
Loren Wohletz, who went on the trip his senior year, said he would recommend the program to other students.
“If you have any doubts or hesitation on whether or not to go … just do it or at least apply,” he said. “I had no regrets, and it’s one of the coolest things I did as part of the undergraduate program.”
Freshman Kate Freeland said she is applying to the program because it will help her medical career.
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“I want to get my master’s in public health, and this is a public health project,” she said. “A lot of internships you can get in public health are mostly pencil-pushing, but this is much more hands-on.”
IMD program: Apply to Christian Garcia cgarcia2@unm.edu
Operation Smile: Apply to Lilliam Aguilar at lilliama@unm.edu
