This is Smith’s first year organizing a Medical Brigade and we are extremely excited for this opportunity!

Global Brigades is the largest student-led health and development organization in the U.S and is one of the most prominent health organizations on college campuses. Its main goal is to empower students to join together to address major health needs in rural communities. 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. We will be spending 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.

Our dedicated group of Smithies will be focusing all their efforts on fundraising, recruiting health professionals and collecting medicine for our brigade to Panama this January. Please consider helping us reach our goal so we can have a successful trip and help hundreds of community members.

Sincerely,
Your Smith College GMB Team
gmb@smith.edu