Medical Students Making Impacts, Inc.

Medical Students Making Impacts, Inc. (MSMI) is unique at Mount Sinai. We are a not-for-profit non-government organization founded and run by students at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. MSMI offers students the chance to make a meaningful difference in the healthcare of the underserved. Our goal is to link ourselves with healthcare providers - both locally and in developing world countries - and help them set up and raise money for valuable programs that could save lives and positively impact the healthcare in a community. We fundraise through grant writing to foundations and individuals and provide other resources necessary to implement specific projects within these communities. Our first project involves a serious attempt to reduce the rates of perinatal transmission of HIV in parts of Africa. We are currently researching the feasibility of providing the drug, Nevarapine, to pregnant women - who do not otherwise receive anti-HIV therapy - in a clinic in Zambia or another Southern African country. We are in contact with two groups already operating on the ground in Zambia and in Zimbabwe. In addition, several MSMI members traveled abroad in summer, 2001 to research the project first-hand. Other exciting projects are also in development. MSMI was founded in 2001. In time, we hope to establish chapters of MSMI at other New York medical schools.

For more information, contact studentc@mssm.edu.