Help Fund Mikala’s Medical Brigade

Hi everyone,

My name is Mikala Dowling. I'm a first year student at Emory University planning to major in in Econ and Human Health on the Pre-Dental track. Emory Global Brigades’ is a program that provides comprehensive medical and dental services to rural communities through a free clinic. This year our trip is to Guatemala and our goal is to empower underserved populations through a sustainable and holistic approach that pushes against voluntourism. In this program, we work alongside licensed healthcare professionals to provide primary care allowing volunteer students, such as me, to gain valuable clinical and shadowing experience.

To be able to attend this Brigade I will gain valuable insight, because not only is this organization interested in the welfare of the students of Emory, but the welfare of other communities who face health disparities. My life’s ambition is to go one step further by enhancing my awareness of what a world of equitable access to health care would look like. Not only will I be intellectually prepared, but I will be equipped with several skills to help other communities back home develop a stronger healthcare system as a result of this experience. By joining Brigade, I will be able to advance my studies by shadowing doctors/dentists in a cross-cultural situation while also improving the quality of life of others by supporting doctors/dentists in providing adequate health care resources to the kids. Lastly this would be an honor because life is fundamentally about seizing the opportunity at hand as this acts as the first step toward a larger picture of what is to come for myself and others in the future.