On May 7th, 2024, HAEFA’s George Washington Medical School chapter hosted its inaugural meeting. The meeting was presented under a teach-in format with multiple speakers composed entirely of student leadership from the organization. The teach-in topics were the HAEFA’s humanitarian and clinical services using the electronic medical record (EMR) system for the rural and underserved populations in Kurigram, Noakhali, and Cox’s Bazar districts of Bangladesh. A major focus of the topics was also on the Rohingya FDMN/refugee crisis and HAEFA’s intervention within the camps.
The six student presenters were as follows: Ishan Abdullah, Meagan Mitchell, Abdulla Ali, William Huang, Hannaka Spillman,& Omar Saadi. Highlighted during the meeting were HAEFA’s innovative see-and-treat approach for cervical cancer, community-based tuberculosis screening and treatment workflow, COVID-19 management, natural disaster aid, and the implementation of NIROG in remote and underserved areas of Bangladesh. After discussing HAEFA’s role, the goals of the student organization were reviewed, and upcoming opportunities for new members were revealed.
The talk was concluded with a reminder about how the plight of globally disadvantaged populations vastly extends past their media exposure and the duty of students today in educating themselves and others to ensure these people are continuously given the support they need, The student organization has two fundraisers planned for the upcoming months and hopes to host another dedicated teach-in session focused on HAEFA’s disaster response within refugee camps.
