Peru

Malena Ramos (right), director general of Los Visionarios in Peru. Ramos is joined here by fellow Visionarios community leader, Lorena Mestanza Cordova. The Geisel School of Medicine is teaming up with Visionarios to build a library in one of the most underserved areas of Lima.

In Peru, Geisel has developed strong partnerships in order to provide experiential learning to Dartmouth undergraduate, graduate and medical students, strengthen Peruvian healthcare and address public health challenges, and assess and improve health and socio-economic needs in low-income communities.

In 2013, Geisel leadership visited Peru to establish its relationship with Cayetano Heredia National Hospital and Cayetano Heredia Medical School, both in Lima. The group also met with Peruvian mental health leaders, discussing advancements created at Geisel that can be shared with Peru, and toured the Ministry of Health’s newly established clinical outposts in underserved areas.

In 2014, students from Geisel travelled to Peru to work with Dr. Raul Acosta, the emergency medicine physician who is in charge of planning disaster response for the Hospital Cayetano Heredia. The students worked on the implementation of an Android application that would allow for communication between first responders and hospital personnel. The students also worked with physician mentors to prepare a disaster response plan for pediatric patients.

Geisel medical students have also worked in the Villa Maria del Triunfo District’s impoverished Arenal Alto hillside community. They helped the nongovernmental organization Visionarios Peru conduct the first-ever health assessment of the community, which included researching barriers to health insurance. Collaborating with local leaders, they also assisted in creating an economic development and healthcare leadership program for the community.