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Volunteer Links

How good does my Spanish have to be in order to volunteer?

Volunteers should be able to converse in Spanish. Most volunteers arrive with at least a few years of high school or college Spanish under their belt. However, we have welcomed volunteers with minimal Spanish-speaking ability. Most of the time, these volunteers plan to stay at Centro Medico for several months and have demonstrated a knack for learning languages. Medical students and residents are required to be proficient in Spanish to the point of being able to conduct a basic patient consultation independently.

Volunteer

Volunteers are the heart and soul of the clinic. Our volunteers are doctors,nurses, medical students, public health workers, social workers, teachers and more.

Volunteers take on many critical roles at the clinic.

US doctors volunteer from a few weeks to several months taking care of Centro Medico patients and supervising rotating US medical students and residents. Meanwhile, the doctors gain valuable knowledge of tropical diseases and learn to apply their knowledge in a clinical setting with minimal technology. Residents and 4th year medical students complete tropical and rural medicine rotations at the clinic for credit. Some students also teach basic healthcare to community groups.

Non-clinical volunteers have performed needs assessments of the surrounding communities, developed a variety of health programs, taught health education and set up classes in computers and English. Volunteers in the US have also helped fundraise and coordinate clinic events.

Many of our volunteers have come in not knowing much about healthcare in Bolivia, but despite these obstacles, have accomplished impressive goals and helped saved lives.

Overall, our volunteers come from other countries but always end up becoming a part of Bolivian culture and leave with a new family.

Contact Centro Medico if you're interested in joining as a volunteer.

Our Volunteers

Featured Volunteer from Abroad

Simone VanSwam, MD

Simone VanSwam

March, 2003-July, 2003

Simone nearly died three to four times during her first ten hours in Santa Cruz. Luckily, things calmed down after that. Just kidding. Read more about Simone...

Volunteer Blog: An Exerpt

Blogs, blogs, blogs! What are we going to do with all of these Blogs?!

posted by Mike September 8, 2007

People are really starting to rave about my blogs. I'm even keeping my fingers crossed for some sponsors! Possibly from Fingers Crosserstm which is a global chain of restaurants where they serve finger foods and hang finger related things on the walls.

Keep Reading

Featured Local Volunteer

Veronica Rivera

Over 100 American volunteer medical students, healthcare workers and doctors have come and gone at Centro Medico Humberto Parra, but there are several young indispensable volunteers from the town of Palacios who have been working at the clinic every week since 2002! Veronica is one of them. Read more...