MSMD is committed to serving the Middle-Eastern community, whether here or in the Middle East.  In the past few years, we have developed several service opportunities in which we hope to continue participating annually.

Students:

• Student Activities Fair – Look for the MSMD table at the Student Activities Fair held for incoming medical students on Tuesday, August 7, 2007 from 5 - 7 pm during Orientation Week!
  
  
• Medical School Applicants – The Welcome Wagon program, through the Diversity Office, allows us to invite interviewees and prospective students to dinner. Through sharing our experiences at the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) with the prospectives and holding MSMD representative positions on the Admissions Committee, we hope to encourage pre-medical students of Middle-Eastern descent to apply to and enroll in UMMS.  Our goal is to let them know that they have a student organization that represents them here at UMMS.
  
  
• Mentoring – Our mentorship program has allowed us to reach out to undergraduate pre-medical students of Middle-Eastern descent in order to provide advice and guidance as they progress through their academic training.  Specifically, we have held mentoring seminars and office hours.  We hope to compile medical school application essays, a research mentor list, and a physician shadowing list as resources available to these undergraduates.

Patients:

• Clinics – MSMD holds an annual free health screening for the Middle-Eastern community.  We offer blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, and bone density screening to over 100 people at these screenings.  The clinics have been held at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, MI and hope to hold future screenings at churches within the community as well.  At the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) Health Fair on May 11, 2004, MSMD students offered health screening, translation services, and blood pressure measurements to patients of all backgrounds, including Caucasians, African Americans, Arabs, Asians, and South Asians.
  
  
• Chaperoning – In the summer of 2006, MSMD chaperoned and cared for two families from Iraq who were receiving treatment at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS).  One child was a victim of a blast in which he lost his leg and vision, while another child suffered from a rare congenital anomaly.  Both were cared for at UMHS with their medical expenses waived.  MSMD helped care for the families during their several-month stay.

Local and Global Outreach:

• Book Collection – Last year we held a collection drive for medical textbooks to donate to medical schools in Iraq.  We had an overwhelming response from the faculty here at the U, collecting over 220 boxes of medical texts (over 3,000 texts and 2,000 journals) to ship overseas.
  
  
• Education – MSMD participated in Minority Health Week last year, including hosting a speaker.  This event was held in hopes to improve awareness of cultural barriers to break down some of these barriers that prevent minority groups from proper access to healthcare.
  
  
• International Experience – MSMD organized a clinical observership at the American University of Beirut (AUB) Medical Center in Lebanon during the summer of 2005.  Students also visited hospitals in Bourj al Barajnah, a Palestinian refugee camp neighboring Beirut, and toured the camp.  The participants also joined other international students from SCOPE/SCORE (Student Committee on Professional/Research Exchange) programs of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA).  We hope to continue this experience as an annual summer trip.