Research Opportunities
Are you interested in studying the prevalence of malaria or intestinal worms in underserved communities in Guatemala?
Perhaps you have a hypothesis that teaching Mayan midwives about postpartum hemorrhage will reduce maternal mortality.
We offer opportunities to create and build on evidence-based healthcare in an international setting.
If you have a project in mind that aligns our overall mission, Refuge International might be able to help you achieve your research goals. We encourage individual investigators who wish to study international health and healthcare to join one of our medical mission teams. Our projects are focused primarily on basic healthcare, adequate nutrition, clean water and education.
Click here to let us know your idea and see if we can build a collaborative research effort.
Chronic Health Conditions in Rural Caribbean Guatemala
Authors: William H. Young; Alana Carrasco; Joel Rodriguez; Lucio Zapata; Yolande Pengetnze MD; Patti Pagels MPAS, PA-C
The purpose of this research is to characterize the presence of chronic health conditions among healthcare seekers in the underserved indigenous community of Sarstún, Izabal Department, Guatemala.
Jornadas Medicine
Author: Durward A. Watson, PA-C, of UT Southwestern Medical School
“I am a Physician Assistant at UT Southwestern who helped accompany PA students along with John Cane, PA-C in March 2018 for a medical mission trip to Sarstún. I had a great time, learned a lot and am interested in volunteering again in 2019. I am forwarding a presentation that I gave to my fellow faculty in the Infectious Disease Division at UTSW following our trip.“
Prenatal Care and Education
Download the graduate projects of two candidates for Master of Physician Assistant Studies at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas:
- Assessing Knowledge, Attitudes, and Barriers to Prenatal Care in Women of the Izabal Department of Guatemala
Author: Patricie Burnett, B.S. - Assessing the Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention Regarding Prenatal Care Importance, Pregnancy Lifestyle, and Breastfeeding in Women Attending the Refuge International Clinic in Sarstun, Guatemala
Author: Matthew Wainwright, RDN
Assessing Community Interest in Health Education Through Medical Missions
Author: Maria Ruiz, B.S., of UT Southwestern Medical School
“I took part in two annual UTSW Medical School trips to Chocolá. This year, one of the resident family medicine physicians attending wished to conduct a short survey of the patients to help us as medical students find ways to be more involved, since our utility as clinicians is limited.
We conducted a survey asking patients what kind of health topics they would like to learn about, in hopes of organizing a short oral presentation for the patients over a topic they would like to learn about to be taught by medical students.
I wrote up the results of the survey with a couple of my colleagues and was able to transform the findings into a poster presentation that I presented at the 10th Annual JPS Research Day “Advancing Health Equity through Research & Education” Conference on June 3rd, 2016 in Ft. Worth, Texas. I wanted to share with you the poster that I presented, since thanks to Refuge International, I had the opportunity to do this and be part of the wonderful mission trip to Chocolá.”