Photo of Medical Brigades logo. (Contributed/Global Medical Brigades Facebook)

The ETSU Global Medical Brigade chapter is traveling to Guatemala from January 11 — 18, 2025, for their next brigade location. After visiting Panama in 2022 where they helped over 200 patients, the chapter continues to form connections around the world while giving back through volunteer support.

Lauren Ross is the founder of the Global Medical Brigade Chapter at ETSU which she began in 2022. Now a senior psychology major with a concentration in health professions, she and the student-led team continue to make impactful and revisualized changes for long-lasting outcomes.

“The purpose of global brigade is to build a system to where those communities eventually will not need these clinics to come and provide for them,” Ross said.

With partnering communities in Berlese, Honduras, Ghana, Panama, Guatemala and Greece, the brigade team offers health aid, economic development, sanitation and clean water projects to under-resourced areas, each aspect uniquely implemented to meet the community’s goals. With voluntary dental and general clinic workshops, patients are offered free medical healthcare and are individually accounted for with records for future follow-ups.

Noting the importance of cultural awareness as part of their mission, the team takes a day on their trip to learn about their assigned location’s history and become knowledgeable of their culture, lifestyle and needs. Aiming for evolving relationships, the team approaches each visit to build sustainable health systems alongside meaningful connections.

“We’re not saving anyone,” Ross said. “We’re really just being a part of something bigger, a bigger project.”

Learning and growing together, the chapter prioritizes patient comfort and appreciation as they work together to build purposeful bonds. Alongside gaining experience, becoming internationally educated and offering service resources, the brigade advocates for impact monitoring to better their program as it lives on.

Lauren will be leading the chapter’s upcoming trip to Guatemala and is taking steps on preparing herself and the team volunteers with classes about the location’s culture, and also discussing the ethical aspects and guidelines of medical brigades. To learn more about the Global Medical Brigade chapter at ETSU, visit https://fundraise.globalbrigades.org/empowered/chapter/east-tennessee-state-university-medical-brigades.

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