Student Organizations

Global Health Student Organizations at UC San Diego


Alternative Breaks at UCSD

Alternative Breaks are local, domestic or international service learning trips that use education of social justice issues combined with strong direct service to have a long lasting impact on students and the communities they work alongside. We are a student run, student led organization dedicated to creating a society of globally conscious active citizens.

Web Page: http://www.alternativebreaksatucsd.org/df
E-mail Address:abatucsd@gmail.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ABatUCSD

Community Hope Project

This is a grassroots project by people, for people. The aim is to foster hope, health, and opportunity in communities across this crazy lopsided globe. It is predicated on the radical notion that what matters in life is not profit but relationships, connection, warmth, laughter, empathy, a sense of purpose, self-efficacy, and meaning.
Volunteers are being recruited to help start up the first project, which will involve a broad-based intervention in a poor but resilient community in Freetown, Sierra Leone :Hill Cut Community. The community members have come together and discussed the many needs: clean water, opportunities for families to earn decent wage to support their children, a local school and health clinic, a training center for the local trades, and a micro-financing program to launch local entrepreneurs. Recognizing that we are just beginning this project, they have agreed that their first priority is to start a school, so that more of their children can become educated - their only real chance at breaking out of the lock-grip of poverty. To find out more information, search "Community Hope Project" on Facebook.

Webpage: communityhopeproject.org
E-mail Address:info@communityhopeproject.org

Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine

We are a pre-health undergraduate organization that is committed to providing support, guidance, and education in our pursuit for higher education in medicine. Our beliefs are deeply rooted in providing better health care for our under-served communities through service, empowerment, and improving access to culturally-competent health care.

E-mail Address:ucsdccm@gmail.com
Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/groups/34934182908

Engineering World Health UCSD

Our mission is to design, maintain  and provide medical equipment for resource limited nations. As a student organization we have frequent speaker series on global health topics, we do outreach events, hospital tours, and we have project teams that are working on creating a viral load testing device for HIV positive patients.

Web Page:http://globalties.ucsd.edu/projects/engineer-world-health.html
Contact Information:http://globalties.ucsd.edu/students/resources-contact.html

Flying Sams UCSD

The Flying Samaritans is an international 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing underserved populations in Mexico with free health services via clinics, hospitals, and other facilities in various communities. There are currently chapters in Arizona, California, and Mexico. They are dedicated to providing free medical services to the underprivileged people of Mexico through a clinic staffed entirely of volunteer physicians, nurses, medical and pre-medical students. In areas where running water, food, and clothing are hard to come by, the proper medical care is even more difficult to attain. The UCSD Flying Samaritans run a general medicine clinic in the Chapultepec region near Ensenada. Throughout the year we gather donations, fundraise, and coordinate other activities, all revolving around the operation of our clinic. Students are in charge of logistics, taking patient histories, vitals, shadowing, and running the pharmacy. A typical trip sees an average of 30 patients. All Flying Samaritan Clinics are operated free of charge to patients.

Web Page Public Health Team: http://ucsdflyingsams.com/public-health/public-health/
E-mail Address: fs.ucsd@gmail.com

Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children

FIMRC is a U.S. based global non-profit organization dedicated to children in need. To date, FIMRC has helped thousands of children by setting up clinics in rural areas of Costa Rica, Haiti, Ecuador, Uganda, Nicaragua, and India. These clinics across the world employ the help of doctors , volunteers, and donors who support a healthier global community. The UCSD chapter is committed to raising awareness in the local community and providing a link between charitable individuals in San Diego and those in need of fundamental medical resources.

Web Page: fimrc.org
Contact Information: UCSD FIMRC

Global Brigades

Medical, Dental, and Water Brigades at UCSD are chapters of Global Brigades, the world's largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization. Volunteers provide urgent and preventive services in communities with limited access to healthcare. 

Web Page: https://www.empowered.org/Medical-and-Dental-Brigades-at-UC-San-Diego

  • Global Dental Brigades

Every spring break, Global Dental Brigades at UCSD travels to Honduras and works with dentists to provide urgent and preventative medial care to people in remote villages who would not otherwise have access to it. They work and travel with their sister organization, Global Medical Brigades. While Global Dental Brigades is usually made up of pre-med and pre-dental students, all are welcome. Trip preparation is covered at weekly meetings beginning fall quarter.

Web Page: https://www.empowered.org/Dental-Brigades-at-UC-San-Diego-1
E-mail Address: globaldentalbrigades.ucsd@gmail.com

 

  • Global Water Brigades

Global Water Brigades in a student-led organization that assists in designing and implementing water systems to prevent water related illnesses in communities with limited access to clean water. With a sufficient quantity of properly treated water, community members can cut off the connection between water and illness, and ultimately live healthier, more productive lives. Additionally, Water Brigades and its volunteers provide education and training so that the community can properly administer, operate, and maintain their water system. A Water Council and Basic Sanitation Committee are established in communities to ensure sustainability of the community's system, as well as to improve sanitation and hygiene practices. 

Web Page: https://www.empowered.org/Water-Brigades-at-UC-San-Diego
E-mail Address: gwb.ucsd@gmail.com

 

Global Service Corps (GSC) Programs - Tanzania

GSC is a nonprofit international volunteer organization running service-learning opportunities in Tanzania and Thailand. Programs are offered in a variety of fields including public health, international health, HIV/AIDS, and rural medicine. Students also participate in homestays with local families while working hand-in-hand with local counterparts. Programs are of varying lengths and are offered year round. Four new internship programs being offered are the Community Training Internship, the SOS Fellowship, the Integrated Service Learning Programs, and the Community Development Internship. Deadline: Rolling 

Web Page: globalservicecorps.org

Health and Medical Professions Preparation Program (HMP3)

To deliver meaningful community service experience, personal development, access to standardized test preparation, mentoring, career insight, and unique philanthropic endeavors for the benefit of the greater UCSD community. 
Web Page:http://hmp3.ucsd.edu
E-mail Address: hmp3.ucsd@gmail.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/HMP3atUCSD/timeline

 

HIVCorps Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia

 

Founded in 2004, this program aims to get volunteers involved in international HIV care and preventative initiatives. The HIVCorps seeks program assistants to help expand HIV care and treatment services. Assignments last 10-12 months and are based on individual interests and programmatic needs. Examples over the past few years include: expansion of HIV services to new provincial health care sites; expansion of services for HIV-infected children; strengthened links between the tuberculosis and HIV care programs; and development of community outreach programs. Deadline: Usually February of each year.
Webpage: www.cidrz.org 
Email Address: Maria Lombe - maria.lombe@cidrz.org

 

International Health Collective 

In collaboration with the communities of Tijuana and San Diego, IHC provides accessible, quality health for the under-represented. Students, health professionals, patients, and community members learn from one another to increase collaborative solutions to our world's pressing health and community issues. 
Web Page:http://internationalhealthcollective.org/how-to-apply/undergraduate-students/#
E-mail Address:internationalhealthcollective@gmail.com

Project Nicaragua

Project Nicaragua is a non-profit student organization based at the UC San Diego, UC Los Angeles, and Ohio State University. It is an organization dedicated to the betterment of healthcare and quality of life for the people of Nicaragua. The group started at UCLA, and currently works with Hospital Antonio Lenin Fonseca in Managua, Nicaragua. They currently bring students on trips to Nicaragua to give them medical experience in a developing nation, and work on research projects with the government. Their approach is multi-fold and includes humanitarian volunteer work in the medical, research, and community fields. 

Web Page: http://www.projectnic.org/chapters/ucsd/
E-mail Address:projectnicucsd@gmail.com

Project RISHI

PROJECT RISHI (Rural India Social and Health Improvement) supports sustainable projects in rural India. During the school year, Project RISHI carries out fundraisers and awareness events geared at educating the UCSD community about the challenges of the developing world. For three weeks in the summer, Project RISHI members from UCSD and UC Davis visit a leprosy colony and remote villages in rural Maharashtra, India to volunteer and fund sustainable projects. UCSD Project RISHI was founded in 2009 and have made fantastic strides, such as attending the Clinton Global Initiative University in 2011 and being recognized as "Organization of the Year" by the UCSD Alumni Association in the same year. 

Blog: http://projectrishi.wordpress.com
Web Page: projectrishi.ucsd.edu

Public Health Brigades

Public Health Brigades is a student-led organization that empowers under-resourced communities in Honduras to decrease life threatening diseases by improving home infrastructure and providing public health education. Volunteers develop sustainable health solutions and establish a standard of health quality by emphasizing prevention and education. Working side-by-side with the community members, volunteers improve the overall infrastructure within the home through the construction of four projects: eco-stoves, latrines, water storage units, and concrete floors, as well as provide health education to local schools. The four projects were chosen based on observations of medical brigade patient records, which illustrated high levels of respiratory, chagas, and other preventable diseases caused by poor in-home health infrastructure. 

Web Page: http://www.empowered.org/Public-Health-Brigades-at-UC-San-Diego
E-mail Address: ucsdphb@gmail.com

Surgical Friends Foundation

Surgical Friends Foundation exists to provide reconstructive surgery and post-operative care to individuals living with physical deformities who do not have access to quality medical care. There are millions of people in the United States and around the world who live painful lives due to physical deformities. These deformities can be congenital, post traumatic, or acquired in nature. Unfortunately, due to a lack of access to quality care and/or availability of monetary funds, these individuals never seek help and continue to suffer. The mission of Surgical Friends is to unite philanthropists, volunteer reconstructive surgeons, and anesthesiologists with patients who live with difficult and life-threatening deformities. The organization also teaches and mentors medical teams from developing countries on new life-saving surgical techniques, gives students work experience, creates awareness, and reveals the true essence of becoming a doctor: serving all people, regardless of their class, race, or economic status. 

Web Page: surgicalfriends.org

Unite for Sight International Opportunities 

Unite for Sight is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization providing international medical opportunities to help restore eyesight and prevent blindness in African, Asian, and Latin American countries. All persons over the age of 18 are welcome to apply, including premedical students, medical students, public health professionals, doctors, corporate professionals, nurses, graduate students, retired professionals, and others. Short and Long Term volunteer opportunities for physicians are available as well

Web Page: uniteforsight.org

Email address: JStaple 

Voces y Manos por el Derecho de la Salud (Voices and Hands for the Right to Health) - Guatemala

Voces y Manos is a non-profit that works to ensure that every person has access to the health care resources needed for them to live their full potential. We work in the Rabinal region of Guatemala to improve access to health care in rural villages in the short-term, and to empower youth to create sustainable access to health in the long-term. Health should be in control of communities, to have the capacity to chart the course of their ow destiny. There are not just ideals we talk about, they are made practical in the work we do. In the United States, we invite people to join their voices and hands in the movement towards the right to health. Our Vision is to create a world in which the highest attainable standard of health is made available to all people. This requires meeting immediate health care needs as well as addressing systemic problems that give rise to destitution and the denial of the human right to health. With a spirit of genuine solidarity, we strive to cultivate a determination to do whatever it takes to help the sick return to health and to create a more just future. They do summer health programs in rural Guatemala, coordinate a scholarship program for students in the community, and  work to educate American university students. 

Web Page: http://www.vocesymanos.org
E-mail Address: vocesymanos@gmail.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/vocesymanos/timeline

WavesAIDS

The purpose of WaveAIDS is to encourage students, surfers, and the San Diego community to participate in the global health movement, by organizing and participating in surf-related fundraisers. WaveAIDS strives to support the efforts of Ubuntu Africa by raising funds and awareness for the fight against Pediatric AIDS in South Africa. Surfers have an existing interest in protecting the environment locally and globally. The goal of WaveAIDS is to extend help, protection, and support towards the people (specifically health care related) who live in the under developed countries containing these world-class surf spots. Chapters aim to hold at least one philanthropic event each quarter during the regular school year and will set up educational booths at 2-3 surf related events per year. Support may extend beyond financial assistance to include student outreach programs in South Africa. Meetings: Bimonthly Wednesday nights at 7pm at 854 Felspar St., San Diego, CA 92109

E-mail Address: -bryce@sofcorp.com 
Phone: (970) 749-0505

Wormfree World

Wormfree World is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2008. WFW is dedicated to researching and developing drugs that target soil transmitted helminthes that infect humans, improving the method for diagnosing infection, and improving the lives of those at risk. Two billion people in the world are infected with the intestinal roundworm parasites known as hookworms, whipworms, and Ascaris, but all four drugs currently in use for treatment of these parasites were developed as veterinarian drugs. Resistance to all these drugs are growing. New anti-worm drugs and diagnosis methods are in urgent need. WFW meets every Saturday morning at Bristol Farms in San Diego  and is looking for dedicated students with experience in building websites, graphic design, and organizing events.  

Email address: Ying Yiu