MSIH Students Cross the Border
March 9, 2016
El Paso Inc. — Four students from BGU’s Medical School for International Health (MSIH) have spent the last several weeks working in the border town of Juárez, Mexico, getting field experience in the once crime-plagued city.
“I’ve never felt such a warm welcome,” says fourth-year medical student Jonathan Panitch.
Panitch, along with students Galit Almosnino, Jeremy Boxer and Thomas O’Brien, have been living in El Paso, Texas as part of a two-month global health clinical clerkship offered through the MSIH.
The students commuted daily across the U.S.-Mexico border to Juárez, where they shadowed doctors at Hospital de la Familia, a nonprofit hospital.
From left: Jonathan Panitch from Chicago; Galit Almosnino from Seattle; Jeremy Boxer from Vancouver, Canada; and Thomas O’Brien of Pittsburgh
Once known as the murder capital of the world, Juárez now has a crime rate lower than some U.S. cities, and the students’ visit underscores the city’s continued recovery.
“I was drawn here because there was this history of conflict, and it has gotten a lot better,” says Jeremy Boxer.
“I wanted to see how it was to be a Juárez resident and the struggles they deal with in terms of healthcare.”
Through this experience, the students are gaining the knowledge, both medical and cultural, to truly excel in the global health field.
“You get to see different perspectives, and it broadens your mind and your understanding of how other people live and of different cultures,” says Jonathan Panitch.
“It helps you so much in the medical field to understand different cultures.”
Read more on the El Paso Inc. website >>
Stories Like This
