People in the mountains of northwestern Guatemala will receive the medical help they need thanks to NDSU students, faculty and staff who helped a local medical team prepare for their Guatemala Medical and Dental Mission. NDSU volunteers gathered at the Concept Pharmacy and filled more than 8,000 prescriptions on April 8.
Volunteers began working at 2:30 p.m. and were finished by 6 p.m. Sixty-three students, eight faculty and eight staff assisted with the project. Organizers counted 78 different medications.
Sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota, Dr. John Baird, health officer for Fargo Cass Public Health and his medical team travel to Guatemala each year to provide care to people in the most populous nation in Central America.
Students in the College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Allied Sciences coordinated the project. Volunteers counted, labeled and packaged thousands of packets of medication for the medical team.
This is the second year, NDSU has helped Baird and his team prepare for the trip. Last year, Baird pitched the idea to Maari Loy, a student working toward her PharmD. Loy approached other students and faculty in the College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Sciences about the project and everyone was eager to begin helping.