by Ann Blackford
What began as a small medical mission trip to Ecuador in 2002 for a
group of pediatric medical residents led by Dr. Thomas Young, professor
of pediatrics at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine,
has evolved over the years into a large multidisciplinary,
interprofessional partnership between UK and the local community working
together to discover new and improved ways to teach, learn, and serve
vulnerable and resource-poor communities in Ecuador.
UK's
Shoulder to Shoulder Global (STSG), formed in 2005, is a UK-based
initiative devoted to improving the health and quality of life in
Ecuadorian communities suffering the effects of poverty, including high
rates of preventable health problems, violence, low educational
attainment, and lack of safe drinking water, among other issues.
"After three years of medical trips, it became clear that in order to
make a real difference to families in Ecuador, I needed to find a way
to have a permanent presence there," Young said. "After meeting with
community leaders in Santo Domingo, we began planning a medical clinic
with the goal of addressing health and poverty."
With the assistance of a local non-profit social services
organization, STSG launched Centro Médico Hombro a Hombro (CMHH)
(translated Shoulder to Shoulder Medical Center), a small clinic in the
poor community of Carlos Ruiz Burneo, located in the outskirts of Santo
Domingo where more than 20,000 people live in poverty. The clinic is run
year-round by local health professionals, including physician Cristian
Carrión, who has been the medical director since the opening of the CMHH
five years ago. The clinic is mostly supported by donations and by the
health brigades from UK.
Read more here on UK's College of Arts & Sciences website.
