About us
Project World Health is a non-profit organization run by students at the University of South Florida's College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy.
Founded in 1991 by two USF medical students, Project World Health has worked with hundreds of students, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and dentists to help provide medical care for thousands of adults and children throughout various communities in need.
While you explore our website to learn more about us, please consider visiting the donation page to help support us in our endeavors!
2023 trip to Jarabacoa
Take a look at our Brochure:
Our History
After Project World Health was founded in 1991, the group initially provided medical supplies and assisted on service trips to underserved populations in Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, and Cuba. In 2000, PWH took its first trip to Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. The first trip only included a handful of students, one physician, and one nurse. Over the last 22 years, over 900 students have gone on PWH medical outreach trips to Jarabacoa. The size of the group has grown from just 13 on the first trip to Cuba, to peaking at over 100 students, nurses, and physicians on the 2019 Jarabacoa trip.
Since 2020, the pandemic has prevented us from physically traveling to Jarabacoa and running clinics, but it has not stopped our impact. In 2020, after the abrupt cancellation of the trip, medical students ran a dental care drive and collected over 1000 toothbrushes and 200 tubes of toothpaste that were shipped to Jarabacoa. In 2021, Project World Health shipped 10 large boxes of supplies to Jarabacoa containing: $10,000 worth of medications, 1292 toothbrushes, 142 boxes of PPE (face masks/shields, gowns, gloves, disinfectant) and 5 pulse oximeters.
We are thrilled and immensely grateful to announce our return to Jarabacoa in 2023 after navigating the challenges posed by the global pandemic. The opportunity to resume our mission, rekindle partnerships, and continue our impactful work brings a sense of renewed purpose and hope.
Our Impact
With the help of Hope & Health, Project World Health is able to provide clinic care and medical supplies through a medical mission trip each Spring. We bring suitcases packed to the brim with medications and basic hygienic supplies including anti-parasitic medications, vitamins, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoos, soap, and other basic necessities.
We typically have 4 clinic days, during which we visit 8-10 different clinic sites and on average attend to a population exceeding 1,000 patients.
Our goals include to teach and promote health, provide basic medical supplies and humanitarian need, work with local health care providers, perform basic surgical procedures, as well as provide fluoride varnish treatments, vitamins, and parasite treatments.
We have also partnered with One Ball One Village to set up water filtration systems at some of our clinic sites.
Project World Health is very proud of our accomplishments, but would not be nearly as successful if it were not for the generous donations from our sponsors who donate money and materials to us.