SPPS students participate in mission trip to Dominican Republic

Pharmacy mission trip.

Back Row: Gina Prescott, Jessica Greger, Alyssa Noble, Christ Ang Katche, Rachel Klosko, Al Reiman; Front Row: Christian Bernhardi, Crystal Diep

Published January 25, 2016 This content is archived.

Eight students from the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences traveled to the Dominican Republic in early January 2016 to help the underserved.

The students were guided by Gina Prescott, clinical assistant professor, pharmacy practice, and Alfred Reiman, clinical assistant professor, pharmacy practice. The trip was organized by SCORE, a Christian mission organization that runs a clinical complex in the country.

The UB team was joined by more than 60 other volunteers from the Western New York area.

SPPS students worked up to 14 hours a day to help establish a new pharmacy inventory management system and operations procedures to aid in the development of running a pharmacy in the clinical complex. The group also ventured out into smaller villages to set up clinics and provide medication counseling and education to those who would otherwise not have it.

A volunteer surgical team—Alan Posner, MD, assistant professor of clinical surgery, Buffalo General Hospital; John Jaeger, MD, obstetrics and gynecology; and Sunil Patel, MD, nephrologist, Erie County Medical Center—offered the pharmacy students hands-on experiences, including preparation of pre-operative antibiotics and instrument sterilization.

The Dominican Republic has medical care, but in a limited capacity. Even though the major causes of death are non-communicable diseases, infection and other preventable and treatable diseases are still prevalent.

The students who participated in the mission trip were Christ Ang Katche, '18, Faisal Minhaj, '17, Christian Bernhardi, '18, Esther Cha, '17, Crystal Diep, '18, Rachel Klosko, '19, Jessica Greger, '19, and Alyssa Noble, '18.