Executive Board
Emily Bensen, Co-President
Graduation Year: 2014
Major: Sociology/Anthropology
Minor: Global Health and French
Why I joined GlobeMed: My freshman fall, I was drawn to GlobeMed because of my interest in medicine. I had also recently come across the term “pragmatic solidarity” and was intrigued by GlobeMed’s commitment to the idea. As I spend more time with GlobeMed I continue to form, question, and analyze my ideas of health as a human right. I feel so lucky to be part of a unique group of peers, successful national organization, and inspiring global movement!
Accomplishments:
-SIT National Identity and Arts semester program in Senegal, Fall 2012
-Ski patroller at the Middlebury College Snow Bowl
-Community Friends Mentor
-Intern at the Charter House Emergency Shelter in Middlebury, January 2012
-YMCA Camp Coniston counselor and Division Leader, Summers 2009-2012
Career Aspirations: Although I still find myself tongue-tied when asked about my career goals, I plan on attending public health school after graduating Middlebury. I have a passion for promoting and cultivating social justice and global health equity, and I hope to find a career in which I can make positive change in these arenas.
Phoebe Carver, Co-President
Graduation Year: 2013
Major: English
Minor: Global Health
Why I joined GlobeMed: Although I initially gravitated towards GlobeMed to fulfill my desire for service at Middlebury, as I learned more about its mission I became both academically interested and passionate about the concept of health as a human right. Three years of active membership and a GROW trip later, I have far too much knowledge about the shocking reality of global poverty to not engage in the movement for global health equity. Certain aspects of GlobeMed’s model–its grassroots approach, the lack of bureaucracy, the energy and creativity stemming from its student leadership–serve as concrete inspiration that changes in the world’s health inequities are a real possibility.
Accomplishments:
-Partners In Health Student Outreach Intern, Summer 2012
-Middlebury College Liaison to John Graham Homeless Shelter (2010-Present)
-GlobeMed GROW Intern, Summer 2011
-Reader for Writer Adam Ross (Acknowledged in novel Mr. Peanut and short stories collection Ladies and Gentlemen for input)
-Graduate of NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School)
Career Aspirations: I have committed myself to a career that directly addresses issues of global health and social justice, in whatever form that may take. Upon graduation from Middlebury, I intend to work with an organization serving the marginalized and impoverished population in the world, eventually attend public health school and pursue a career in the field of global health.
Sam Peisch, GlobalhealthU Co-Coordinator
Graduation year: 2013.5
Major: Political Science
Minor: Global Health, Psychology
Why I joined GlobeMed: As cliché as it may sound, helping people has been my passion ever since I’ve been a little kid. I’ve always felt it is my duty to put others about myself, and it has been my guiding principle throughout my life. I’m passionate about helping people because I feel like it is what I’m best at and what I enjoy doing the most. There is nothing that makes me happier than knowing I’ve made a positive impact in someone else’s life, and I’m willing to do everything I can to make other people happy and successful.
Accomplishments:
-U.S. Ambassador/Medical Volunteer for the Happy Africa Foundation (Zambian NGO)
-Co-founder of Nimala Futbol Academy (Zambian non-profit)
-Bentley Tomorrow 25 Time Winner
Career Aspirations: Becoming a doctor
Maddie Li, globalhealthU Co-Coordinator
Graduation Year: 2015
Major: Geography-Architecture joint major
Why I joined GlobeMed: I was pulled to GlobeMed because it provided a space for students of all majors and interests to talk about global health, and I loved this because I want to incorporate health equity into my studies even though my major is not explicitly related to health. The longer I’m a part of GlobeMed, the more I become excited about the enthusiasm that every member brings to the whole group, and about the possibilities for change on (and beyond!) our campus.
Accomplishments (experiences):
- co-president of Stop Traffick, an anti-human trafficking student organization
- international student program at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China 2010-2011
- smoothie making extraordinaire at Crossroads Cafe
Career Aspirations: Creating spaces that inspire and foster community through urban design.
Graduation Year: 2013
Major: Psychology
Minors: English
Why I joined GlobeMed: I joined GlobeMed after learning about its GROW trip and the system of partnerships that it fosters. GlobeMed provides college-aged students with the unique opportunity to take direct and meaningful action abroad. We actually witness the fruits of our fundraising labor and communicate with the people who benefit from our work. I wanted to experience that sense of student independence and empowerment on campus. GlobeMed meetings and the GROW internship have also taught me how I might involve myself in Public Health in the future, without becoming a medical doctor. GlobeMed demonstrates the multifaceted nature of healthcare and invites students with a diversity of academic and extracurricular interests to take part in improving health equity worldwide. I love communing each week with students who are at once like-minded in their commitment to Global Health, and totally different from one another.
Major: Neuroscience
Why I joined GlobeMed: My aspiration to become a doctor initially led me to sign up for GlobeMed because “med” was a part of the title. After a few meetings though, my reasons for staying in the group became clearer. I love that GlobeMed is a group of students witha common interest and passion for a cause. I’ve learned so much about global health through GlobeMed, and I really enjoy working with everyone to raise money in fun and inspiring ways.
Graduation Year: 2013
Major: Joint Spanish and English
Minor: Biology
Why I joined GlobeMed: I certainly agree with the idea that health care is a universal human right, and I think it’s important to realize the impact each of us students can make in terms of educating and influencing our peers. The best way to foster health equity is to encourage a widespread awareness of its necessity, and I’m deeply devoted to championing that cause.
Accomplishments:
-Outstanding Student Award for Law & Society, The Oxford Tradition
Alexa Dessy, Co-Director of Communications
Graduation Year: 2013
Majors: Neuroscience, Spanish
Why I joined GlobeMed: I joined GlobeMed as a way to bolster my pursuit and understanding of the health professions. I hoped to become involved in a student organization whose mission I felt was meaningful and whose impact was measurable. I wanted to be able to contribute to the project and thereby improve the lives of others in need. Furthermore, I wanted to learn how both medicine and public health policy are implemented in the real world to effect changes to benefit disadvantaged communities. GlobeMed has has provided me with a much broader perspective of health, which has complemented my classes in the natural sciences and directed many of my other extracurricular activities.
Accomplishments:
- Intern at Comprehensive Neuroscience, 2010
- Publication in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and therapeutics, 2010
- Intern at NYU Langone Center for Brain Health, 2011
- Hospital Volunteer at in Hospital Rivadavia (Buenos Aires), 2011
- Research assistant in Behavioral Systems Neuroscience lab at Middlebury, 2012
- Intern at Columbia University Neurological Institute, Stroke Division, 2012
Career Aspirations: I am planning to pursue a career in medicine. I hope to participate in clinical research before enrolling in medical school.
Major: Joint Political Science and Geography
Minor: Global Health
Why I joined GlobeMed: I have been interested in the field of global health since high school, and I was thrilled to find an organization that promotes the education and support of global health and social justice initiatives through partnership and sustainability. I took part of my senior year off in high school to work for a USAID project and local hospital in Tanzania focusing primarily on maternal health issues, as well as spent my febmester interning at an NGO in India that promoted traditional medicine and women’s empowerment. GlobeMed’s mission intertwines the issues that I care deeply about within the context of my current education. GlobeMed gives students an opportunity to make a difference in the developing world. It frustrates me that, as an undergraduate student, I find it difficult to have an enduring impact on those whom I help. We don’t have medical degrees or MPH’s, and while students should volunteer, a week-long mission trip has few sustained implications on a struggling community. For me, GlobeMed’s partnership model was the solution to this dilemma. GlobeMed provides an opportunity for interested students to further educate themselves on global health inequalities in the developing world, while simultaneously partnering with an NGO, which supports sustainable and lasting projects.
Accomplishments:
-Medical Volunteer for Haydom Hospital in Tanzania
-Public Health internship for Jagran Vikas Samiti in Udaipur, India
-USAID Global Health Fellow II
-GROW Intern – Gardens for Health International, Rwanda, Summer 2012
Career Aspirations: I am hoping to have a career working in the field of Public Health as a GIS analyst. As a geography major, I hope to bring geo-technological skills such as the use of GIS to my global health work. GIS allows one to use computerized maps to attach information to locations. This technique aids in the geographic allocation of health resources, assessing a populations’ environmental health issues and in the monitoring of a populations’ response to health interventions.
Ellen Halle, Co-Director of Community Building
Graduation Year: 2013
Major: History
Minor: Global Health
Why I joined GlobeMed: Global Health as a discipline combines my passions and suits my personality; it’s a human-facing, emotional field with ever-shifting components and a raw focus on equity. I joined GlobeMed in September 2010 after learning about the opportunity to connect with others on campus dedicated to social justice and health issues. I believe that that humanness itself is enough to be a common denominator, especially in health: there isn’t a huge difference between the strife of a mother with a dying child in the US or in Rwanda. I am constantly inspired by my fellow GlobeMedders and am so excited to be on the e-board this year. GlobeMed has grown so quickly (but sustainably) in the past few years and I’m confident that our network will make a difference.
Accomplishments:
-Chair, GlobeMed at Middlebury HillTop Conference
-GlobeMed at Middlebury 2010-present
-Middlebury Women’s Varsity Lacrosse 2009-present (2011, 2012 NESCAC All-Academic, 2011 All-American)
-Open Door Clinic Medical Translator 2011-present
-Lacrosse the Nations Team Liaison 2010-present (Managua, Nicaragua)
-Organization for Tropical Studies Researcher Fall 2011 (Coto Brus, Costa Rica)
-GROW Intern Summer 2011 (Tororo, Uganda)
-Dean’s List 6 semesters, College Scholar 3 semesters
-Internships at the Malaria Policy Center (2012), The Open Door Clinic (2012), Africa 2000 Network (2011) & the Baltimore Community Foundation (2010)
-Duke Study Abroad Semester in Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Fall 2011
Career Aspirations: I guess it’s time to think about that… I would love a career in anything related to public health–healthcare consulting, public health policy, research…anything that involves improving healthcare services and working towards health equity and health system efficiency. I will definitely pursue my Master’s in Public Health and am considering Post-bacc pre-med programs, as well. I also want to become fully fluent in Spanish!
Margaret Reed, Co-Director of Community Building
Graduation Year: 2014
Major: History
Minor: Global Health and French
Why I joined GlobeMed: I was originally drawn to GlobeMed because I wanted to pursue a career in medicine and had begun the pre-med track at Middlebury. After being a part of GlobeMed I started thinking that public health was a better avenue for me to contribute to world health issues. I took a global health class later that year and fell in love with it. Throughout my experience with GlobeMed, my interest in public health has grown immensely and I am hoping to make a career out of it after college!
Accomplishments:
- Completed summer Tuck Business Bridge Program
- Shadowed Doctor at University of Maryland Medical Center
- Dean’s List
Career Aspirations: I aspire to pursue a career in public health, specifically one that incorporates my business interests. I loved my time at the Tuck Business School this summer and learned a lot about the ways that non-profit organizations utilize the same business strategies as many large companies. I would love to put those skills to work in a setting where they could aid the many public health problems worldwide.
Ryan Brewster, GROW Trip Coordinator
Graduation Year: 2014
Major: Molecular Biology/ Biochemistry
Minor: Spanish
Why I joined GlobeMed: The field of global health operates at the interface of so many seemingly disparate disciplines. I believe the threading together of medicine, economics, anthropology and so many other fields truly embodies the liberal arts framework. GlobeMed harnesses this multidimensional dynamic, and translates it to pragmatic solutions to global health inequities. While I was certainly drawn to GlobeMed’s holistic composition, it was the actual agents of change – the students – that made me passionate about global health. Under the banner of partnership and human rights, enthusiastic undergraduates have generated a meaningful campaign for social justice. The grassroots framework elicits an incredible amount of accountability and innovation from its members. Albeit humbled by the realities of the global health landscape, I am at the same time inspired to enact progress through the this model.
Accomplishments:
• College scholar
• Bicentennial Fund for Research Partnerships in the Sciences Fellow
• Published graphic artist
• Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
• Nationally-ranked freestyle skier – Qualification for National Championships, Junior Olympics, U.S. Ski Team Selection Events
• First-Year Counselor (FYC)
• Tour guide
Career Aspirations: I am currently enrolled as a pre-medical student, with intentions of pursuing a career in orthopedic surgery. That being said, I hope to integrate these professional interests into the context of global health, whether it be in a domestic or international setting.
