CONTACT: Ron Hartung
(850) 645-9205; ronald.hartung@med.fsu.edu
Feb. 15, 2011
FOR THE 10th YEAR, FSUCARES IS SPENDING SPRING BREAK ON MEDICAL OUTREACH TRIPS
If it’s spring break, don’t look for the students of FSUCares on a beach or at a bar. This year, like every year since the Florida State College of Medicine welcomed its first class in 2001, these students will be giving out medical supplies and treatment — and getting a cultural education in return.
On Wednesday, Feb. 16, they will be available for interviews and photos as they pack medical supplies donated by the Tallahassee community. Fourteen first- and second-year College of Medicine students will make the annual trip, along with six faculty members. They will split into three groups: one in Immokalee, southwest Florida; one on the Texas border; and one in a small village in Panama. Spring break is March 7-11.
FSUCares’ mission is to increase outreach to underserved communities, said Elena Reyes, faculty adviser for FSUCares. She also is the director for the “Cross-Cultural Medicine” course, an elective designed to help students develop the knowledge and skills to work with Florida’s underserved Latino community.
“In Panama, we will be working in the clinic that we helped build through donations in the small Filipina village,” Reyes said. “The theme for the 10th-anniversary trip is long-term community partnership through service-learning.” Besides medical supplies, FSUCares also has been collecting gently used clothing for all three sites.
Students will be available for interviews and photos on:
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 16
4:30 – 6:30 P.M.
FSU COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
1115 W. CALL ST., TALLAHASSEE
Directions: From downtown, travel west on Tennessee Street and turn left on Stadium Drive. The College of Medicine is at Stadium and Call Street. Limited press parking will be available by RSVP in a parking lot located off Call between the College of Medicine and the Psychology Building. Additional parking is available in the parking garage at Stadium Drive and Spirit Way.
For more about FSUCares, visit /fsucares/home