The IU School of Medicine’s Global Health Student Interest Group (GHSIG) mobilized learners across Indiana this fall for a statewide day of service designed to highlight that global health begins at home.
From Evansville to Bloomington to Terre Haute, medical students joined partner organizations for hands-on projects that supported families, children and immigrant communities. The coordinated effort was led in part by first-year medical student Keller Vincent, who serves as the GHSIG Event Coordinator.
“I helped ensure all the regional campuses had an event set up,” Vincent said. “While these could seem like small acts to some, each medical student participating in the volunteer day understood the importance of helping locally.”
In Evansville, students partnered with the University of Evansville Global Medical Brigades to assist the Immigrant Welcome & Resource Center, cleaning and organizing the facility. In Bloomington, volunteers refreshed outdoor furniture and inspected playground equipment at the Bloomington Center for Global Children, a language-immersion pre-K program.
“It can look like beautifying a space that supports local immigrant communities or painting a playhouse that kids enjoy while developing the beginnings of their own global perspectives,” Vincent added. “Global health isn’t just out there—it is right here in our schools and communities.”
In Terre Haute volunteers focused on fall yard clean-up for local families, joined by undergraduate members of Indiana State University’s Timmy Global Health chapter. For Laura Clarke, IUSM Advocacy and Terre Haute Chair for the GHSIG, the day underscored the importance of mentorship and shared purpose.
“For several hours, we worked together in harmony, clearing leaves and debris from the homes of local families,” Clarke said. The team even expanded their list midway through the day, motivated, she said, by “the simple, gratifying goal of bringing a smile to a family’s face as they returned home to a clean, well-kept yard.”
Clarke, who grew up in a rural community and is completing all four years of medical school in Terre Haute, said the service day also gave her the chance to support aspiring physicians among the undergraduate participants. “It was an absolute privilege to offer pre-medical advice and support,” she said. “They are our future colleagues, and it was a joy to engage with them in a shared mission.”
For both Clarke and Vincent, the statewide initiative reinforced a core belief: meaningful global health work is grounded in local relationships, community needs and sustained engagement.
Seeing medical students across campuses unite around that idea, Vincent said, “was empowering to witness and affirmed that I am doing exactly what I want to do in the best place to do it—with the IU School of Medicine.”
The Global Health Student Interest Group invites involvement from students, residents and faculty. Contact ghsig@iu.edu for more information.
