Page 15 - WesternU View - Spring 2015
P. 15
COMP student Allison Sarmiento uses a dental model to Pharmacy student Bhumika Parekh and COMP COMP student Nathaniel Yuan distributes
teach a child proper teeth cleaning. student Michelle Yim lead a public health “Charla” children’s supplies.
for community members.
“This is great to be able to hone our medical skills by Spanish for “chat,” and consisted of teaching children
seeing patients, talking to them and coming to about general hygiene such as brushing teeth and
conclusions by seeing and touching them and using hand washing.
very basic skills, which was really important because
we are all training,” Arora said. “It was also important “That did not work out so well, so we changed it up in
to get perspective being in a different country, which the next village, to where we all saw patients in
kind of put me in their shoes, and so now I’m more groups, and the physician would make rounds and
compassionate when I talk to patients in a clinical would see a patient, do a history, do a focused physical
setting here.” exam.”
GHC is a chapter of Global Brigades, which helped set College of Pharmacy second-year student Maira Khan
up the trip. Students raised funds for travel, and also said the GHC provided a great opportunity to
received donations of more than 200 boxes of medical experience her ultimate goal of helping needy people
supplies to take to Nicaragua. in third-world countries.
Khan was one of four pharmacy students on the trip,
WesternU Founding President Philip Pumerantz, PhD,
and COMP Dean Paula Crone, DO, donated funds to and as the Pharmacy Chair was responsible for
help get supplies for the mission. compiling most of the medications and supplies.
On their first half-day in Nicaragua, students “While the medical students exercised their skills
organized the medications and supplies they had conducting physical assessments, as a pharmacy
brought, including vitamins, Tylenol, Advil, and anti- student, I was able to work right by their side in
parasitics. They also made bags of toothbrushes, recommending appropriate medications for the
toothpaste, shampoo, soap, nail clippers, and basic patients,” she said. “We had only four doctors
hygiene items to hand out to each patient. verifying our diagnosis, and as a pharmacy student
with awareness of what resources were available to us,
The trip consisted of going to two villages and using I was able to play an instrumental role in getting our
schools as clinics. Each day they created a system to patients something to aid their distress, whether it be
see patients. ibuprofen for pain or omeprazole for heartburn.”
“The first day was chaotic because we didn’t know The next GHC trip is planned for Panama, and
exactly how we wanted to do it,” Arora said. “We had another to Vietnam. Email GHCclub@westernu.edu for
a triage station, physicians – we had Dr. Mumford and more information. – Jeff Malet
a few in-country physicians - a dental station, a
pharmacy station and a charla station, which is
WesternU View Spring 2015 13
teach a child proper teeth cleaning. student Michelle Yim lead a public health “Charla” children’s supplies.
for community members.
“This is great to be able to hone our medical skills by Spanish for “chat,” and consisted of teaching children
seeing patients, talking to them and coming to about general hygiene such as brushing teeth and
conclusions by seeing and touching them and using hand washing.
very basic skills, which was really important because
we are all training,” Arora said. “It was also important “That did not work out so well, so we changed it up in
to get perspective being in a different country, which the next village, to where we all saw patients in
kind of put me in their shoes, and so now I’m more groups, and the physician would make rounds and
compassionate when I talk to patients in a clinical would see a patient, do a history, do a focused physical
setting here.” exam.”
GHC is a chapter of Global Brigades, which helped set College of Pharmacy second-year student Maira Khan
up the trip. Students raised funds for travel, and also said the GHC provided a great opportunity to
received donations of more than 200 boxes of medical experience her ultimate goal of helping needy people
supplies to take to Nicaragua. in third-world countries.
Khan was one of four pharmacy students on the trip,
WesternU Founding President Philip Pumerantz, PhD,
and COMP Dean Paula Crone, DO, donated funds to and as the Pharmacy Chair was responsible for
help get supplies for the mission. compiling most of the medications and supplies.
On their first half-day in Nicaragua, students “While the medical students exercised their skills
organized the medications and supplies they had conducting physical assessments, as a pharmacy
brought, including vitamins, Tylenol, Advil, and anti- student, I was able to work right by their side in
parasitics. They also made bags of toothbrushes, recommending appropriate medications for the
toothpaste, shampoo, soap, nail clippers, and basic patients,” she said. “We had only four doctors
hygiene items to hand out to each patient. verifying our diagnosis, and as a pharmacy student
with awareness of what resources were available to us,
The trip consisted of going to two villages and using I was able to play an instrumental role in getting our
schools as clinics. Each day they created a system to patients something to aid their distress, whether it be
see patients. ibuprofen for pain or omeprazole for heartburn.”
“The first day was chaotic because we didn’t know The next GHC trip is planned for Panama, and
exactly how we wanted to do it,” Arora said. “We had another to Vietnam. Email GHCclub@westernu.edu for
a triage station, physicians – we had Dr. Mumford and more information. – Jeff Malet
a few in-country physicians - a dental station, a
pharmacy station and a charla station, which is
WesternU View Spring 2015 13
