The Emory Undergraduate Global Health Organization (EUGHO) focuses on providing information to and opportunities for students interested in international health issues.
The organization’s members discuss various global health issues and strive to enable students to form their own opinions. Some of the issues include maternal and child health, infectious diseases like Ebola and HIV/AIDS and nutrition.
EUGHO provides educational and volunteer opportunities and information on unique graduate opportunities in the field of global health.
“The organization has now started offering volunteer opportunities in Atlanta that serve as a microcosm for the world,” EUGHO Volunteer and Outreach Chair and College sophomore Rebecca LeBeaux said.
According to Lebeaux, EUGHO is hoping to offer opportunities at food pantries, harm reduction shelters, health clinics and places promoting environmental stewardship.
Many of the twelve executive board members of EUGHO are pre-med and pre-public health students. According to Lebeaux, while EUGHO may attract students primarily interested in health and medicine, anyone interested in learning more about global health issues is welcome to join.
EUGHO holds their general body meetings (GBMs) on the first Thursday of every month.
EUGHO brings in speakers from different departments of the University, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other organizations to talk at their GBMs.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) member Dr. Christopher Hsu was a speaker for a second year in a row. Last year, he spoke about his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate a potential outbreak of Ebola.
This year on Oct. 1, Hsu spoke about his chosen field of study — monkeypox.
“Undergraduate students usually don’t get the chance to meet and talk to leaders in their field of interest,” Lebeaux said. “EUGHO gives them an outlet to hear about world issues and issues that affect our members personally.”
In addition to conducting volunteer activities, EUGHO hosts non-conventional events such as Yoga on the Quad each spring and trips to the CDC Museum.
“As someone not pursuing a career in the sciences, attending the trip to the CDC Museum with EUGHO helped me realize the important work of the CDC and other public health related organizations in our society and day to day lives,” College sophomore Robby Gershowitz said.
Many EUGHO members consider the organization’s biannual fundraisers to be one of the bigger events of the year.
Last semester, EUGHO raised over $1,000 for International Medical Corps’s Ebola relief efforts.
In addition to raising money, EUGHO hosted a panel with experts from different trades, including law, medicine and public health, who each educated students about the Ebola crisis.
Members of the panel included Chief of Medicine at Emory Healthcare and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine Dr. David Stephens, as well as quarantine expert and Professor of Law at the Emory University School of Law Polly Price. They discussed how their fields of research pertained to the Ebola epidemic.
Whether it is the organization’s well-rounded approach or breadth of student participation, many EUGHO members take pride in the impact and growth of the club.
