By Brynn Waite, April 29, 2025
The Global Medical Brigades club at Cal Poly Pomona will travel to Panama from May 21 –to May 29 to provide medical aid, including general consultations, dentistry, physical therapy, educational sessions on dental care and provide pharmaceuticals to the communities in need.
“We see issues such as dental problems where some families only have one toothbrush, and teaching them proper care is essential,” said co-president Jonathan Elias.
The decision to travel to Panama was based on its high attendance rate at local medical clinics, which allowed student volunteers to gain hands-on experience. The club has learned there are multiple health concerns, issues such as diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, mycosis, and anemia, to address in the country.
“We are very excited to help this community in many ways and help all people that we encounter on our brigade,” said co-president Kimberly Gallo, a nutrition and science student.
To prepare for Panama, the club held fundraisers, sponsorships and awareness raising, which included selling tamales and providing volunteer services outside campus.
“During this school year, GMB has been able to provide volunteer services such as being a hot walker at the L.A. Marathon and supporting INSAN by feeding unhoused civilians in Downtown Pomona to gain similar insights of patient interaction and public speaking,” said fundraiser committee chair Amanda Terrazas. “We also hosted vitals workshops with Western University to introduce the triage section of our medical clinic to our student volunteers.”
This club helps students gain experience in the medical field and insight on the medical needs of other countries, especially for underrepresented medical students and Latinos pursuing a career in health care, like Elias, Gallo and Terrazas.
“Unfortunately, only a small percentage of physicians are Latinos; however, we are called to motivate each other and help all those who want to pursue medicine as Latinos,” Gallo said. “We are the future generations of health care, so we must make that change and support each other as Latinos.”
Having a form of representation and cultural understanding in the medical field is vital to students at CPP, especially to those whose first languages are not English and who did not originally grow up in America.
Terrazas’ interest in the medical field as a first-generation student has helped him practice his Spanish by speaking it professionally and meeting a community of future Latino medical professionals.
The club allows students from different majors to participate and provide medical assistance to low-income communities. It is a student-led club, and its mission is to provide sustainable development to undeserved communities in countries that have little to no medical access or aid.
GMB teaches students about ethical volunteerism, gain cultural awareness, learn about medicine, and gain a global view of the journey and of what factors as an impact on medicine.
Feature image courtesy of Global Medical Brigades
