FIMRC

FIMRC is proud to acknowledge Application Prep’s commitment to supporting FIMRC’s efforts to improve pediatric health by donating a portion of each service package to FIMRC’s mission. Application Prep offers admissions consulting to students applying to medical school and joint degree medical programs. Please visit www.applicationprep.com to review Application Prep’s service offerings. For questions, call an Application Prep representative at 1-888-317-4566 or email info@applicationprep.com.

Five chapters from around the country– from high school to pharmacy school – recently came together to support FIMRC’s clinic in Bumwalukani, Uganda. The University of Virginia chapter raised $1000 for the purchase of crucial surgical instruments; the University of Texas-Austin and University of Michigan chapter together raised over $3,000 to build a Community Health Pavilion on the clinic grounds to serve as a home base for FIMRC’s preventative health classes; the Monsignor Donovan High School chapter in Toms River, NJ raised over $500, an amount which was supplemented by a $170 contribution from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy chapter to purchase a full set of visual aids and educational materials. We thank these chapters for sharing FIMRC’s vision of people from all walks of life uniting to accomplish a healthier global community!

A newly established team of FIMRC staff, including public health professionals, board members, and on-site field staff, have devoted their efforts to assess and expand FIMRC’s Micro Health Insurance Program (MHIP) and are making rapid progress! MHIP was established in early 2008 as a non-monetary model of health insurance for the most economically vulnerable members of the community. Under the system, participants earn health credits by engaging in positive health practices such as attending health education lessons, taking their children to the clinic for vaccinations, and maintaining good hygiene at home. Health credits can then be redeemed for health-enhancing improvements such as water filters, trash storage systems, and clean-burning stoves. Once enough credits are earned, participants receive medical coverage which allows them access to medical care they would otherwise not be able to afford. MHIP has already begun to revolutionize healthcare in the rural communities of Las Delicias, El Salvador and Bumwalukani, Uganda, where many families live in homes with dirt floors and lack access to basic necessities such as potable water and trash collection. By combating these factors, MHIP aims to reduce preventable disease and provide a happier, healthier future for the children in these communities!

As the Field Operations Manager for Project Kodaikanal, Zainab manages, supervises and coordinates all FIMRC operations in India. Born and raised in the city of Mumbai, Zainab has studied in the US, conducted research in Germany and gained firsthand experience in public health as a FIMRC Global Health Volunteer in Costa Rica. Zainab works with regional children’s centers as well as the Van Allen Hospital to help realize FIMRC’s goal of providing pediatric care in an impoverished region and providing visiting volunteers with an eye-opening immersion into Indian healthcare and culture. Zainab recently joined the team as FIMRC’s newest Field Operations Manager in July 2009 and we’re delighted to have her on board!

This winter, for the third year in a row, teams of medical students from Michigan State University College of Health Sciences will travel for 4-6 weeks to FIMRC medical sites in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Peru. Students will spend each day in the clinic or hospital shadowing and assisting staff physicians and accompanying our site staff out in the communities to promote preventative health practices to impoverished children. Not only will the students contribute invaluably to FIMRC’s work, but they will earn academic credit while doing so. This longstanding collaboration with MSU serves as FIMRC’s flagship partnership for the Comparative Health Immersion Rotation Program (CHIRP), a program providing 3rd and 4th year medical students from all institutions with an intensive shadowing and volunteering experience which can be tailored to meet academic requirements.

FIMRC is delighted to grant the following awards:

Chapter of the Year 2008-2009: Rutgers University

Chapter of the Semester Spring 2009: University of California-San Diego

FIMRC-Rutgers is one of our leaders in recruiting Global Health Volunteers to travel to our international sites, having sent three separate groups in the past year. They recently extended their helping spirit to raise $1000 for FIMRC’s site in India in collaboration with another student group at Rutgers. At home, chapter members represented FIMRC by volunteering at a children’s hospital, a nursing home, and a soup kitchen. The chapter’s president is currently living in Nicaragua for the summer with FIMRC’s prestigious Ambassador Program. FIMRC-Rutgers, thank you for your hard work!

FIMRC-UCSD is one of our largest and most accomplished chapters. Through fundraising activities including bake sales and a basketball tournament, the chapter raised enough money this year to send 11 chapter members to volunteer at FIMRC’s clinic site in Agallpampa, Peru. They have also organized day trips to Tijuana to volunteer at an orphanage, providing health education to underserved children. They recently hosted a Children’s Health Awareness Day featuring a campus festival and lecture series featuring physicians, nonprofit professionals, and a senior member of FIMRC’s headquarters team. FIMRC-UCSD, thank you for your dedication!

After months of preparation, FIMRC’s Project Bumwalukani team began providing classes Community Health Educators to train them to act as advocates for positive health practices among their peers. Training takes place in the new Community Health Pavilion, which was constructed this spring using funds raised by FIMRC college chapters. FIMRC staff handpicked 15 village residents with a proven track record of public health volunteerism to serve as Community Health Educators. Once the training process is complete, the Community Health Educators will hold health education sessions around Bumwalukani, empowered not only to take charge of their own health, but to help their friends, family, and neighbors do so as well.

We are currently recruiting volunteers to travel to FIMRC’s site in India for two- and three-week trips anytime between August 1 and 31. Participants will shadow and assist medical professionals at the Van Allen hospital, which serves impoverished children and families in Kodaikanal. They will also accompany FIMRC staff to children’s centers in the community to assist with nutrition and preventative health initiatives by presenting interactive health lessons to local children. We are offering a reduced introductory program donation rate for all individuals interested in joining our program during the month of August. Please respond to this email for more details!

The 2009 Summer International Health Fellowship Program in Huancayo, Peru is hosting more participants and an even greater range of activities than last year! One participant sent us the following update: “In the mornings we have been going to the hospital. There are always interesting cases for sure – always something exciting to see. We have been going to special-needs schools and doing activities with them. We have also been getting classes from the med students of anatomy on cadavers and also classes on doing stitches. We also go to orphanages and teach health education lessons to the children.” This year’s Fellows will be on-site through August 1. FIMRC wishes them the best of luck!

Known and trusted in the Las Delicias community, Morena (right) serves as a liaison between FIMRC’s Project Las Delicias and the national Ministry of Health. Morena is also a nurse and brings vision and drive to Project Las Delicias in her daily work treating common diseases in the region. In her role with the Ministry of Health, Morena serves as a health promoter, forming personal relationships with families in the area. Morena possesses a deep understanding of how to approach the task of improving community health one child at a time.