University medical alumni and current pre-med undergraduates have traveled to Haiti during intersession since 2002 in a trip sponsored by the Medical Alumni Council to provide medical attention and aid to the people in the impoverished nation. For the students participating, the service provides the invaluable experience of working alongside doctors, gaining insight in the lives of Haitians, and seeing first hand the school’s Jesuit identity in action.
Michael Le, a senior from South Abington Township, who is a member of the University’s Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Honors Program with a double major in biology and philosophy, said this service allowed him to see the value of communication when working with patients where there is a language barrier.
“In many instances, the doctors knew the correct diagnosis and prescribed the appropriate treatment, but without a means of communication, both the Haitians and the doctors were lost,” said Le, who plans to attend medical school next year. Le saw first hand the important role of the group’s translator, Junior, who helped both the doctors and students communicate with Haitian physicians and patients.
Le added that he and the other Scranton students were given the opportunity to practice procedures and treatments that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to perform in the United States until medical school. According to Le, students pulled teeth and performed physical examinations.
“In terms of medical education, this hands-on approach reinforced the theories and concepts we studied in our physiology and biology class,” said Le.
For Le, the trip also reinforced the University’s Jesuit ideals, reminding him of the value of service.
“The experience has struck a certain cord in my heart. I have a deeper understanding and appreciation for what I have learned in school, especially about service to others,” explained Le.
Lucie Henry, a junior from Beach Lake, majoring in biology major with a biochemistry minor and a concentration in nutrition, said the experience showed her how poor living conditions contribute to the spread of disease.
“There is no sanitation system, so when it floods all the waste gets into the tents or shacks where most of the people in Cite Soleil live. That is one of the main ways cholera spreads,” said Henry, who also plans to become a doctor.
Henry also said on a visit to see the abandoned children of St. Damien’s in Tabarre, she was shocked by the lack of medical procedures for these children.
“They were sick and most likely going to pass away because they needed a simple medical procedure, but didn’t have access to it,” said Henry.
The third student participating in the January service trip was Kathleen Lavelle, a senior biochemistry, cell and molecular biology and Hispanic studies double major from Avoca, who also participates in the Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Honors Program and plans to attend medical school.
University medical alumni participating were Richard Bevilacqua, D.M.D., M.D. ’83, Pamela Taffera, D.O. ’02 and Christopher Andres, M.D. ’89
The University’s Health Professions Organization and the Medical Alumni Council collected medical supplies donated by local alumni doctors and others.

Elizabeth Klassner is a communication major at The University of Scranton with a minor in English literature.

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Haiti service trip ‘strikes a cord’ in hearts of pre-med students at University of Scranton