August 2012 Medical Brigade at Elon University

Start Date: Aug 9, 2012 12:00 AM
End Date: Aug 15, 2012 12:00 AM

Medical Brigade volunteers set up medical clinics in pre-identified communities to provide healthcare where access is limited. Each community receives a brigade every 3-4 months and between brigades the in-country team maintains relationships with the communities to provide follow-up and conducts community health worker trainings to empower local leaders to perpetuate a consistent level of healthcare.
Dental Brigade volunteers provide urgent and preventive dental services in communities with limited access to healthcare. Each of our community partners receives a brigade every 3 to 4 months where hundreds of patients are treated with fillings, cleanings and extractions, and are given dental hygiene workshops.

Elon University\'s Global Brigades chapter was started in 2008 with its first brigade in May of 2009. During our inaugural brigade we saw 650 patients with the help of fifteen students, two doctors and one nurse. In August 2010, our brigade saw over 1000 patients and we had three doctors and one nurse. During our third brigade in May of 2011, we visited the same village for all three days and saw 600 patients. Patients were not only provided with basic medical care but they were provided with dental care and services from an OBGYN. We had a group of 26 Elon students, 4 doctors, 2 nurses, 1 dentist and one pharmacist. We are looking forward to our fourth annual brigade taking place from August 8th-14th, 2012.