As most students enjoyed their last few days of Christmas break, volunteers from the university's Global Medical Relief group participated in a service trip to the Central American country of Honduras to aid people who are usually deprived of medical care year-round.
Twice a year, more than 30 students and volunteers travel to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, to distribute medical supplies and offer medical assistance to people who do not have access to medical care in their village.
According to Elizabeth Bodle, a senior in the College of Nursing, the university's GMR group works with Sociedad Amigos de los Niños, an orphanage in Honduras led by Sister Maria Rosa Leggol.
Bodle said the trip includes four days of medical brigades and time spent setting up medical clinics. The group's most recent trip took place Jan. 6 to 13. The group treated more than 2,300 people during the trip.
"It is a great opportunity to work with doctors and a learning opportunity for those in the health care field," Bodle said.
Chad Garven, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, will be going on his sixth trip this spring, which helps provide continual care to the people in Honduras.
"We are not just giving medication and never hearing from them again," he said. "We want to improve health care year-round."
He said Marquette joins the University of Michigan, University of Southern California and Eastern Virginia Medical School to set up temporary clinics in the mountains and villages around Tegucigalpa.
GMR members solicit doctors and organizations to donate medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, Garven said. Together the group brought 63 bags, 50 pounds each, filled with medication and school supplies.
According to Toby Peters, associate vice president in the Office of Administration, the group sets up clinics in various communities, usually just with one room for a doctor and another room for the pharmacy in buildings like the village schoolhouses.
Villagers come in and students take down their information and ailments before leading them to a doctor. Students also work as translators for doctors and pharmacists to explain how to properly use the medication.
Bodle said the students are also able to work with the children, playing with them while they wait at the clinic or at the orphanages.
The villagers' information is recorded and logged in a computer at the clinics in order to keep track of patients who may return or need refills on medication, according to Garven.
On this most recent trip, the students helped a clinic open year round by constructing an operating and delivery room.
GMR-MU usually has a table at Marquette's Organization Fest to recruit people for the trip; however, the group traveling during spring break has already been decided and applications are only taken in the fall. Students are still encouraged to contact the group if they are interested in going in future years.
The program is not just for students attempting to become future doctors and pharmacists, although it helps to have knowledge in the medical field, Garven said. There is no grade point average requirement, but it does help if students both have an interest in helping others and speak Spanish.