Zinacay Quiñones and a local child

Setting up makeshift clinics in churches, school buildings, and even in the middle of a garbage dump where people worked and lived, 18 students helped provide medical care to nearly 900 people in poor communities in the Dominican Republic Jan. 3-10.

Students from the physician assistant program, along with one Spanish major, joined five doctors and other health professionals on a five-day medical mission trip organized by Crossroads, an organization providing aid to poor regions in the Dominican Republic. "The need there is so great, I can't even describe it," said Zinacay Quiñones '11, a member of the Physician Assistant Student Society. She was one of four students who, in addition to helping in the clinics, also translated for the doctors.

The group brought about half a ton of medical supplies, including items such as soap, lotions and toothbrushes for hygiene packages that they distributed to people at the clinics and at a hospital they toured. The students worked alongside the doctors in treating the patients, many of whom had work-related ailments, such as back pain from working in the sugar cane fields and in construction. Many health problems they saw at the clinics were once minor ailments that had grown worse because patients didn't have access to medical care. Some people brought their children to the clinic just for an opportunity to see a health professional.

"If they aren't healthy, they can't work and they aren't going to be able to feed their families," Quiñones said. "I felt good that we were able to go in there to try to break this cycle of poverty. We also showed them that there are people in other parts of the world who care."