by Clare Hoff
A new 4th year elective at Creighton University School of Medicine has capitalized on a previously established volunteer program and improved medical care for the inhabitants of Chimbote Peru. Dr. Maureen Fleming, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology established the elective based on contacts made by medical students who annually visit Chimbote on community service projects. These annual volunteer service trips are part of project CURA, which began as a student-initiated service opportunity for first year medical students to volunteer both at home and abroad. Project CURA started with only 10 to 15 participants in 2002 but has blossomed into one of Creighton’s best known student service programs, with over 50 students going to 4 different continents each year.
The new fourth year international elective in Obstetrics and Gynecology was set up by Dr. Fleming who traveled with three students who had previously been to Chimbote as part of Project CURA. The team established a free gynecological clinic for the women of the area. This three day a week clinic provided diagnosis and treatment of common gynecological problems from bacterial vaginosis to issues regarding menopause and proper reproductive health maintenance at no cost. The students also worked in several other medical facilities in the area ranging from visiting the sick and homebound, delivering babies at a local Maternity Hospital, playing with orphaned and abandoned children at a local orphanage, observing surgery at a local public hospital, and helping out at a local hospice facility new established in the city.
In addition to the many medical lessons available on this unique service trip, students also had the chance to reunite with a place that they fell in love with during their first year of medical school. “I thought my summer here after my first year would be it.” said Clare Hoff one of the fourth year medical students on the trip. “To be able to comeback and reconnect with people I haven’t seen in years has been amazing!” All three medical students were able to live with the same host families they lived with the first time they came to Peru. They also took a beach trip with some of the local young men whom they worked with the first time through the Creighton Center (a day center providing educational and enrichment opportunities for local impoverished youth). David Rust who is going into orthopedic surgery said “To be able to come down as a 4th year with more medical knowledge really helped me see how I would like to continue to be involved in this community as an orthopedic surgeon.” Maureen McNeely the third medical student on the trip said “This trip helped me remember why I went into medicine in the first place, to help people.”
With Dr. Fleming firmly committed to continuing to staff the rotation, a strong interest from current third year student in the rotation already, and interest from other schools such as University of North Dakota Medical School in sharing the rotation, the Chimbote, Peru elective will be around for a long time to come. Project CURA’s growth is just one more way that Creighton medical students continue to show their commitment to making positive changes in the world today.
