Students Offered Clinical Volunteer Experience during Spring Break in Baltimore

by Mehreen Mazhar

Looking for a once-in-a-lifetime Spring Break experience?

The Alternative Spring Break (ASB) in Baltimore offers students the opportunity to travel to Maryland from March 12 to March 19 and learn about the disparities in the US health care system.

“The purpose of the trip is for students to volunteer,” said Faatima Seedat, a student coordinator for the Baltimore Alternative Spring Break.

“Students explore the health care system and learn what needs to be done about the problem of health disparities in the United States,” Seedat said.

On the first Sunday of the week, applicants will get to tour the city of Baltimore for the day. Then starting Monday, students will volunteer for five days at different clinics around Baltimore while also participating in discussion groups for reflection activities.

Students taking part in the alternative spring break will also get the chance to spend a day at Johns Hopkins, the hospital ranked number one in the United States by the U.S. News and World Report.

Although the ASB Baltimore is centered on the health care system disparities, not all applicants are biology majors.

“The program is for anybody,” Seedat said. “Business majors and art majors have been interviewed and you don’t have to necessarily be pre-med at all.”

The trip is coordinated by the USC Volunteer Center, and interested students can contact the office here.

Interested students must also fill out an application and applicants are chosen based on the application itself as well as attend an interview conducted a week after the written application deadline. The application deadline for the 2011 trips has already passed but students can apply for ASB Baltimore in 2012 next Fall.

Applications can be completed online or to turned in to the Volunteer Center located in TCC 330.

For more information on the USC Volunteer Center, check out the website which provides prospective applicants with more information on the alternative spring break such as pricing, and other alternative spring breaks.