South Africa Medical Externship

 S.A.M.E. Medical Mission

June 26th 2015 – July 5th 2015
Work Site: Missionvale Health Clinic and Dora Nginza Hospital

Missionvale Information: http://www.missionvale.co.za/

Dora Nginza Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_Nginza_Hospital

Purpose

The purpose of the South Africa Medical Externship is multi-faceted. First, we hope to use our training as medical students to provide adequate healthcare to the local township of Missionvale, Port Elizabeth. We will be working at the Missionvale Care Centre and Dora Nginza Hospital. The Missionvale Clinic is a volunteer center dedicated to providing preventive measures, treatment, and counseling to a community of nearly 15,000 inhabitants. Dora Nginza Hospital is a public hospital with limited resources and an emergency department that serves over 100 patients daily.

Students will have the opportunity to offer door step care in the township with caretakers, to work alongside community physicians and provide care for inhabitants of the township surrounding Missionvale, and to experience the diagnostic and therapeutic process in the busy emergency department of Dora Nginza Hospital.

 Additionally, through this externship, we hope to gain a sense of culture. South Africa is widely known for its ethnic and cultural diversity. The South African black majority still maintains a significant number of rural and impoverished inhabitants. It is among these people, however, that cultural traditions survive most strongly. We hope to share traditions and gain a better understanding of this unique community.

The S.A.M.E. exists to establish a mutually beneficial relationship between the students of Meharry Medical College and the Missionvale community of Port Elizabeth. We hope to educate and provide healthcare, while also being educated on global health care and traditional South African culture. This program is in its second year of existence. The inaugural externship proved to be a transformative experience, and we hope to continue this tradition!

Itinerary
Depart Nashville: June 26th 2015
Arrive Johannesburg: June 27th 2015
Depart for Port Elizabeth: June 28th 2015
Hospital Externship: June 29th 2015 -July 3rd 2015
Depart to Cape town: July 3rd 2015
Depart to Nashville: July 5th 2015

Lessons From S.A.M.E. Alumni

 “This experience was phenomenal. As Meharrians, we share the onus of extending our service mission abroad. It was refreshing to see the community members so receptive to our efforts,” Italo Brown Class of 2015

 “Despite what we may consider grave circumstances, the people within the township were welcoming and extremely grateful for the services we were able to provide. Twenty years post-apartheid, and this township had no running water, no working toilets, and no place to get rid of waste. However, one could feel a sense of hope from the community members that was awe-inspiring.” Keylon Glawson Class of 2015

 “I think all it takes sometimes is for someone to show us the possibilities we can manifest in our own lives that are beyond our own wildest imaginings.” Jenny Ousley Class of 2015

 “I learned that there is no substitute for education, great healthcare, access to equitable credit and skills management. That’s the difference between poverty and prosperity.” Olatunde Oso Class of 2015