While the summer months are a time for many students to “get away,” not all who journey from campus are on vacation. Numerous Campbell medical students traveled to countries in South America and Asia to participate in medical mission trips during May, June and July.
Led by a group of four osteopathic medical students and two faculty members, the team brought medicine and medical equipment provided by MDF Instruments to several remote villages in Armenia.
“We were in Armenia for nine days, and during those days we saw over 300 patients,” said Dr. Victoria Kaprielian, associate dean for faculty development & medical education, who added that some patients in nearby villages walked for more than three hours to visit the clinic.
“We would set up clinics in local churches, or anywhere that was the center of the community … by the end of the trip we had set up six remote clinics,” recalled Ester Kim, a second-year medical student on the Armenia trip.
With guidance from faculty members Dr. Kaprielian and Dr. Charlotte Paolini, the students helped with physical exams and advised patients on hypertension and basic healthcare. They later went to a pastor’s home in the area to share healthy habits and teach about personal hygiene.
Paul Langston with the North Carolina Baptist Association said, “This team was a tremendous blessing to the people and churches of Armenia where access to quality healthcare is limited. They impacted hundreds with their quality care, words of encouragement and education.”
Across the globe, their classmates traveled to Ecuador with a group of seven other medical students and physician assistant, nursing and pharmacy students from the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences.
Organized by Campbell Medicine’s Department of Community and Global Health, medical students helped set up clinics outside of the city of Coca where they served nearly 700 patients over 10 days time.
Dr. Joseph Cacioppo, chair of community and global medicine added, “Medical missions offer an opportunity to give back to society in a meaningful way. I highly recommend every [medical] student participate in a medical trip if possible.”
A team of more than 40 students, faculty and staff are in Ecuador this week serving on another medical mission. Campbell President J. Bradley Creed and his wife along with School of Medicine Dean Dr. John Kauffman are accompanying the students.
Digital images available on Facebook.