Increase medical knowledge & understanding of the refugee crisis while supporting vulnerable populations, refugees, & asylum seekers living in Athens, Greece.

Students shadow our local medical professionals out of our primary healthcare clinic in Athens. The curriculum engages students in our program methodology, the cultural and historical context of the refugee crisis in Europe, and is culminated in three live clinic sessions in a physical urban clinic in Athens. Clinic stations include pediatrics, general medicine, pathology, and soon ophthalmology.  In addition to our skill-based learning objectives, building cultural competence is integrated into the course to increase the quality of services and improve outcomes with community partners.

Students engage virtually in a sequence of healthcare experiences that deliver medical services to vulnerable populations, refugees and asylum seekers living in Greece. Students will:

• Engage in real-time with doctors, pharmacists, and patients supported by advanced telemedical equipment
• Explore details of region-specific diseases and health issues impacting individual and community health
• Understand pharmacological practices and the application of traditional medicines
• Learn how to conduct monitoring and evaluations in the context of a urban clinic
• Develop and deliver educational services to patients
• Work to develop intercultural competencies throughout the course

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students that successfully complete the program will be able to:

• Explain how the social determinants of health impact the lives of vulnerable populations 
• Understand the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of common diseases identified in urban clinics that utilize telemedical equipment
• Explain to the patient the proper use of medications, adverse drug reactions, and drug interactions of medications prescribed
• Educate patients and families on prevention of infectious and chronic diseases
• Analyze data to monitor health trends and identify health risk factors unique to polyclinic in Athens, Greece.

 

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

MODULE 1: Organizational Overview and Introductions

Class is introduced to Squads Abroad (SA), its parent organization Global Brigades (GB), and the Greece staff. Self-paced Activity: Review questions and reflections.

MODULE 2: The Refugee Crisis in Greece

Introduction to the Refugee and Migrant situation and vulnerable populations. Self-paced Activity: Review questions and reflections.

MODULE 3: Virtual Tour of Athens Clinic and Meeting Medical Team

Students are introduced to the GB Greece medical team operations and the clinic in Athens Self-paced Activity: Watch videos on the context of refugee crisis.

MODULE 4: Greek Healthcare System Overview

Presentation by in-country health specialist to introduce the local health system and challenges faced in the country, including an overview of the migrant and refugee crisis in the EU and Greece. Self-Paced Activity: Group researches the four major international health care system models and reviews discussion questions. Group researches and discusses the refugee situation in Greece.

MODULE 5: Health Education Resource Creation

Group learns about gaps in public health education for women and children and decides what type of Health Education Resource to create for the waiting rooms of the clinic. Self-Guided Activity: Students split into teams to prepare a Health Education booklet or video on an assigned topic and target population to be provided to patients in the waiting area of the clinic.

MODULE 6: Clinic Preparation 1 – Common Diagnosis

An overview of the most common diagnosis from our clinic in Athens. Self-paced Activity: Students complete and discuss the social determinants of health activity and continue working on Health Education Resource.

MODULE 7: Clinic Preparation 2 – Patient Data

Presentation for medical clinic days, including patient data collection procedures and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance law in Europe. Self-Paced Activity: Students completes and discusses the intention setting activity and continues working on Health Education Resource

MODULE 8: Clinic Preparation 3: Telemedical Equipment Training

Students are trained on the various telemedical equipment that will be used during the live session.

Self-paced Activity: Finalize and submit Health Education Resource.

MODULE 9: Clinic Preparation 4: Pharmacology Discussion

Pharmacology discussion about types of medication used in the clinic, including traditional medicines.

Self-Guided Activity: Students review medical terms in Greek and Arabic.

MODULE 10: Mock Patient Consultations

Facilitated by Greek doctors, students conduct mock patient consultations practicing the use of telemedical equipment. Self-Guided Activity: Group continues to practice and reviews medical terms in Greek and Arabic.

MODULE 11 and 12: Clinic Days

Students have two sessions to shadow local doctors using telemedicine equipment to observe patient consultations and debrief with doctors. Self-Guided Activity: Reflect on clinical observations.

MODULE 13: Clinic Recap

Debrief clinic days with the doctor, highlight and discuss interesting cases and overall clinic experience. Self-Guided Activity: Group reflects on previous research about common illnesses among migrant and refugee populations, and compares them to clinic observations. Did the research match the clinic experience? If not, what was different?

MODULE 14: Impact & Evaluation

Coordinator goes over aggregate patient data and students create their own impact report that presents the number of consultations by illness type. Self-paced Activity: complete impact report and prepare cooking materials.

MODULE 15: Cultural Celebration and Final Reflections

Group prepares a local Honduran dish and reflects on the overall experience.