Clarkson University’s Doctors Without Borders club has been officially recognized as a student chapter by Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières USA, Inc.
“We are excited to be recognized by Doctors Without Borders,” says Chapter President Kaitlin Okun ’20, a biology major from Buffalo, N.Y. “Our members will now be able to take advantage of valuable resources and opportunities as undergraduates, like new internships, guest speakers, volunteer opportunities and additional funding.”
Clarkson’s Doctors Without Borders club has been traveling annually since 2012 to destinations like South America and Central America. Last summer, 13 Clarkson pre-health science students completed two weeks of medical observation and volunteer help at Thống Nhất Hospital in Vietnam.
The Clarkson chapter of Doctors Without Borders comprises students from three of the University’s schools, mostly from pre-health science, preparing for medical, dental, veterinary, pharmacy, occupational therapy, physical therapy or physician assistant careers.
The chapter offers weekly meetings that allow students opportunities to get help from upperclassmen in similar majors and meet other students as well as guest speakers like faculty or North Country medical professionals.
It also conducts skills clinics, which teach topics like how to take vitals or how to suture, and provides award certifications in CPR and Stop the Bleed. Current topics in medicine and research, and conditions of the week are also presented.
Students can also take advantage of a one-credit course (Doctors Without Borders Global Experience), which provides out-of-country trip members with an in-depth review of the culture of the country they are traveling to.
The students are involved in fundraising for North Country clinics and programs as well as volunteering for Hospice and Palliative Care of St. Lawrence Valley.
“We have set up an orientation for our members to become part of the hospice volunteer staff,” says Chapter Vice President Matthew Kane ’20, a biology major from North Syracuse, N.Y. “Students are offered the opportunity to work with patients in any way they need, sometimes just visiting patients on a regular basis.”
Okun says that the chapter is also exploring ways of assisting underserved populations of the North Country and other parts of the nation through an in-country trip and is currently looking for a new area to visit and volunteer in the United States.
Doctors Without Borders was officially created in 1971 when 300 volunteers of doctors, nurses and other staff made up the organization, including the 13 founding doctors and journalists. It was created on the belief that all people have the right to medical care regardless of gender, race, religion, creed, or political affiliation, and that the needs of these people outweigh respect for national boundaries. The first mission was to the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, where an earthquake in 1972 had destroyed most of the city and killed between 10,000 and 30,000 people.
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