Julie Peceny, a 2010 Boone Grove High School graduate and Indiana University pre-med student, will travel to Honduras later this month with the Indiana University Global Medical Brigade (IUGMB).
IUGMB is a volunteer organization that selects interested students for medical mission trips.
From March 12th through the 19th Peceny will join 40 other IU students and 10 medical professionals for three days in a Honduran village working triage alongside doctors, dentists, nurses, and 3rd and 4th year medical students.
Peceny and her fellow volunteers will assist with taking patients’ weight, height, blood pressure, temperature, blood sugar, and other medical symptoms. Students will also be in charge of the pharmacy, distributing medicine, and filling orders for patients.
Peceny said she is one of a few freshmen that were selected to attend this mission. With over 100 applicants, most of the students are sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
In preparation for the trip, students have been fundraising to purchase medical supplies and to pay for their portion of the trip. The cost per student volunteer is $1500.
The volunteers recently staged a mock brigade in order to practice the steps they would go through during their actual experience in Honduras.
“All the students learned how to properly take a patient’s blood pressure, temperature, and pulse in preparation for the trip,” Peceny said.
“The experience has been really great for me, and I’m just excited to be going,” Peceny said.
“I am most excited to help all the patients in Honduras and gain hands-on medical experience,” she added.
Peceny said she is still not sure what type of medicine she would like to practice yet as she continues her pre-med studies in Bloomington. “I want to specialize, possibly in endocrinology or internal medicine. Medical research also interests me,” she said.
One concern she has is not knowing much Spanish. “We have students that are fluent in Spanish going, so they should be able to translate for us that don’t know Spanish,” she said. “Hopefully I will still be able to communicate,” she continued.
“I’ve loved the whole experience so far, and I would like to take a leadership role in the IUGMB organization next year. I would also like to make volunteering in less fortunate areas of the world part of my career as a doctor.”