Welcome to my fundraising page!  As many of you know, I am graduating in May from **** University (cum laude!), with a B.A. in Neuroscience and a Minor in Spanish.  Although my pre-medical education prepared me for the academic rigors of medical school, I feel the best type of learning is through lived experience.  Thus, I elected to take a gap year prior to heading to medical school to volunteer in La Paz, Bolivia at Hospital del Ninos and surrounding clinics. 

La Paz is a vibrant city, growing and expanding in all directions. Although vibrant and growing, the city is rife with poverty, malnutrition, and poor sanitation. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and is home to a large population of children without access to adequate healthcare. Many of them are street and working children's untended children and adolescents who struggle to survive on the streets as well as children of desperately poor families in which all members must contribute to meet basic survival needs.

The non-profit organization through which I am traveling to La Paz is Child Family Health International (CFHI).  As anyone who has met me knows, my ultimate goal is to specialize in Pediatrics. The Pediatric Health program in La Paz encompasses everything that I would like to do in the future: pediatrics, practicing in under-served countries through a program such as Doctor's Without Borders, and communicating with patients in more than one language!

The program has a participation fee which I am hoping to meet through donations and long hours scooping at the ice cream shop!  Over 50% of my program fee goes to compensate the doctors, my homestay family, and local CFHI representatives for their work providing the CFHI experience. This important "share" in the profits allows communities such as La Paz to offer more and better healthcare services. The contributions are meant to be an additional source of support for communities that have limited financial resources or access to healthcare. 

Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts. I am asking friends, family, co-workers, strangers, altruists, anyone that will listen for a small donation.  Help me become a better person and better physician!

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!