Howard University Hospital (HUH) has partnered with the New York Chapter of the National Organization for the Advancement of Hatians for a humanitarian medical mission trip to Haiti occurring June 24-30.
Thirty HUH physicians, faculty members, and medical and nursing students will work in tandem with Hatian and non-Hatian physicians to provide medical care, health screenings, and clinical training as part of an International Medical Service Learning Project. Howard University Hospital has lent aid to Haiti each year since 2010, when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the country.
Dr. Hugh E. Mighty, Dean of Howard University College of Medicine, says "The Medical Service Project in Haiti is an excellent program that grooms medical students into well-rounded physicians who practice with empathy and compassion. This initiative is a great endeavor for our students who are passionate and committed to international humanitarian service.
The HUH team will work in the city of Fort Liberte and the surrounding areas to offer care, distribute medicine and provide dental work to residents. The team will also conduct educational workshops and clinical training for local physicians on a wide array of health services aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of the Hatian people.
Several of the participating members of the project have close ties to Haiti. Third-year medical student Bertrand Vulcain is from Miami, Florida and studying to be a psychiatrist. His parents are both Hatian-born physicians who completed medical residency in the U.S. but often return to Haiti to serve in a medical capacity.
"As a person of Hatian descent and a Howard University student, I am proud to be a part of an initiative that encourages people to take up humanitarian efforts that will impact thousands of underserved people," says Vulcain. "Howard University's work in Haiti speaks to the notion of people's goodwill and their resiliency to seek positive change under some of the most challenging conditions. It's a principle the University was founded on."
