EVMS Students Report on Volunteer Rotation in the Philippines

NORFOLK, VA (03/16/2011)(readMedia)-- On a Physicians for Peace mission to the Bicol province of the Philippines last January, three Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) students supported volunteer healthcare professionals from the Philippines, participated in lectures and gathered data for their individual research projects on global health. The students presented a detailed overview of their mission yesterday at Physicians for Peace headquarters in Norfolk.

Kaitlin Porcaro, Jung Park and Heather Soloria joined the multi-specialty mission through a partnership between EVMS and Physicians for Peace. The partnership gives qualified EVMS students the opportunity to participate in a mission during their fourth-year medical elective rotations.

"I walked away from this mission feeling inspired by the volunteers in the Philippines and their commitment to service within their communities," said Porcaro. "It was great to see so much support for the mission, not only from Physicians for Peace and the medical volunteers, but also from the government and private businesses."

Porcaro is the recipient of the 2010 Dr. Charles E. Horton Senior Student Scholarship. Sponsored by the Montero Family Foundation, EVMS and Physicians for Peace, the award honors the founder of Physicians for Peace by offsetting the mission costs for an EVMS student who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to academics, volunteerism and global health.

The students worked with Physicians for Peace volunteers from the U.S. and the Philippines to provide medical, surgical, vision and dental services to patients, as well as continuing education to community healthcare workers. In all, approximately 2,000 patients received care during the mission.

Park and Soloria said the mission left them with a deeper understanding of healthcare challenges in under-served areas – and a deeper appreciation for the importance of both sustainable, replicable programs and dedicated volunteers.

"The physicians and volunteers I met on the mission have really made service a part of their careers," Park said. "Their commitment made a lasting impression on me."

Soloria agreed. "I came back from the mission with a new way of seeing how people are making do with very limited resources," she explained. "This mission gave me the time and freedom to see things you can't see in medical school."

Dr. Juan Montero, who helped establish Physicians for Peace-Philippines in 1998, accompanied the students on their mission.

Photos available upon request.

ABOUT PHYSICIANS FOR PEACE

Physicians for Peace is an international non-profit organization that mobilizes volunteer healthcare professionals to assist developing nations with unmet medical needs and scarce resources. Through effective, hands-on medical education and training, clinical care and donated medical supplies, Physicians for Peace develops long-term, sustainable, replicable, and evidence-based programs to help partner nations build medical capability and capacity to help themselves. Since 1989 Volunteers for the 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization have conducted medical missions in more than 60 countries. With its headquarters in Norfolk, Va., Physicians for Peace has programs in 22 countries and offices in Manila, the Philippines and Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic.

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