USF Medicine International
Students in the Field
Confronting HIV/AIDS in the Dominican Republic
During the summer between her first and second year of medical school, USF College of Medicine student, Kristin Houseknecht, had the opportunity to spend two weeks in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic as part of the Medical Student Summer Research Program supervised by Dr. John Sinnott. USF Health is forming a partnership with the Dominican national HIV/AIDS program, known as COPRESIDA, and is developing opportunities for collaborative learning and training. Kristin shared her experience in the Dominican Republic.
Read about Kristin's Experience
Depression among HIV-infected women in India
This past summer, Salma Pothiawala, second year student in USF Health's College of Medicine, was awarded the David E. Rogers Fellowship by the New York Academy of Medicine. This fellowship supported her travel to Mumbai, India to collaborate with the Government of Maharashtra in studying depressive symptomatology among HIV-infected women. She shared her recent experience.
Interdisciplinary student group bridges the gap in underserved community health issues
International Health Service Collaborative (IHSC) is an interdisciplinary organization comprised of students from the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health and the School of Physical Therapy. IHSC aims to provide long-term health care solutions for underserved populations within the U.S. and developing nations. By incorporating students from each discipline, IHSC provides a comprehensive approach to combating community health disparities. IHSC strives to create a forum for education and discussion about health topics and sustainable solutions originating in all of the health disciplines. It is the vision of IHSC for individuals from all of the USF Health colleges to begin to form collaborative relationships as students and to sustain these relationships as professionals.
Developing International Service Projects
In April 2005, IHSC performed community-based needs assessments in the Dominican Republic. In December 2005, IHSC collaborated with a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer to build composting latrines for 47 families and an elementary school. IHSC also provided medical treatment to children as well as sanitation/hygiene and oral re-hydration therapy education. Recently, IHSC traveled to Ecuador in July 2005 and assisted a local community in refurbishing a water system.