March 19, 2002

Contact: Sarah Ray
802-443-5794
sray@middlebury.edu
Posted: March 8, 2002

MIDDLEBURY, VT - A student-organized symposium titled “Global Human Health: Perspectives and Possibilities” will take place at Middlebury College on April 1-6. The event is being presented by the Middlebury College student association of Operation Smile?a not-for-profit organization based in Norfolk, Va.,

which offers free medical evaluations and surgical treatment to children and young adults who suffer from facial deformities in the United States and abroad. Doctors, economists, professors and Operation Smile Co-founders Dr. Bill and Kathy Magee will be among the speakers at the symposium, which will focus on six perspectives: economic, political, environmental, medical, cultural and volunteer. The symposium immediately precedes World Heath Day on April 7. All events are free and open to the public.

According to Mike Azzara, a member of the college’s class of 2002 and president of its Operation Smile student association, the symposium will provoke important questions in each discipline. For example, what type of tension exists between Western and traditional medicine? What is the economic role of non-government organizations? Participants will also discuss the impact of the lack of resources, education and health infrastructure on health care. Doctors who have served as volunteers in developing nations will offer their thoughts on whether volunteerism is a short-term or long-term solution to the lack of health care there.

“The goal of the symposium is to heighten awareness and understanding about the reality of the health care situation in developing countries. It is time to assess, as the 21st Century begins, where our efforts should be headed,” said Azzara.

Lectures will be held daily Monday, April 1-Friday, April 5, at 4:30 p.m. Speakers include Dr. Steven Shackford, chairman of the department of surgery at Burlington’s Fletcher Allen Health Care, who will discuss the physician’s call to service in a talk titled “How Then Shall We Live?;” Varun Gaun of the World Bank Group, who will give a lecture on “Alleviating Poverty, Improving Health: the Work of the World Bank;” and Dr. Stephen J. Corber, of the Washington D.C.-based Pan-American Health Organization, who will address “Disease Prevention and Control in the Americas.”

From Monday to Wednesday, the 4:30 p.m. lectures will take place in the Robert A. Jones House on Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125). Thursday and Friday’s 4:30 p.m. talks will be held in Bicentennial Hall in Rooms 216 and 220 respectively. Bicentennial Hall is on Bicentennial Way, also off College Street.

On Thursday evening at 7 p.m., “The Challenges of Global Health in an Era of Globalization” will be the topic of a lecture by Dr. Nils Daulaire, president of the Washington, D.C. and White River Junction, Vt.-based Global Health Council. The talk will take place in Room 216 of Bicentennial Hall.

Events on Friday include a 1:30 p.m. panel, “A Student’s Perspective,” that will feature Middlebury College seniors discussing their experiences as interns in foreign medical clinics. Following the panel, at 2:30 p.m., “The Importance of Student Exposure and Volunteerism” will be the topic of a talk by Kathy Magee, co-founder and president of Operation Smile.

At 3:15 p.m., “Operation Smile: Collaborative Models for Growth” will be the title of a lecture by Richard Vander Burg, a nurse and senior manager of international programs at Operation Smile. Middlebury College Professor and Dana Faculty Fellow David Napier of Anthropology and Art will discuss “Anthropological Dimensions of Global Health: the Role of Experiential Learning” at 4:30 p.m.

The panel and the lectures on Friday will all take place in Room 220 of Bicentennial Hall.

On Saturday, April 6, the symposium will conclude with three lectures and the final event¾ a keynote address at a semi-formal dinner.

“The Environmental and Economic Applications of Medical Recycling” will be the subject of a lecture by Dr. William Rosenblatt, associate professor of anesthesiology at Yale University School of Medicine, at 11 a.m. Rosenblatt is also the founder of REMEDY (Recovered Medical Equipment for the Developing World), and the recipient of the 1996 Rolex Award for Enterprise.

At 1:30 p.m., Anne Keith, associate professor of nursing at the University of Southern Maine and director of a health outreach program in the Dominican Republic, will speak about the fundamental elements of child health in a talk titled “Growing up Without the Basics in a Global Village.”

“Politics and Pit Latrines: Dilemmas in Humanitarian Relief” will be the topic of a discussion , at 3 p.m., by Dr. Michael Curtis, a member of the surgery department at Dartmouth Medical School who has worked with the international health organization Doctors Without Borders in Bosnia, Macedonia and Bangladesh.

All lectures and the panel on Saturday will take place in the Robert A. Jones House.

At 6 p.m. in the Great Hall of Bicentennial Hall there will be a semi-formal reception and dinner. Dinner will begin at 7 p.m. Operation Smile Co-Founder Dr. Bill Magee will serve as the keynote speaker-his talk at 8 p.m. is titled “Operation Smile: 20 Years of Helping Children.”

Operation Smile is a not-for-profit organization that was founded in 1982 by Bill and Kathy Magee-a physician and a nurse respectively¾ for the purpose of extending free medical attention to children and young adults who suffer from facial deformities such as cleft lips, cleft palates, burns and tumors. The organization sends teams of volunteers, including surgeons, doctors and nurses, on medical missions to foreign countries, the majority of which are developing nations, and maintains programs in the United States. The Operation Smile volunteers exchange skills and knowledge with the doctors and nurses in the mission countries with a goal of helping the medical professionals there attain self-sufficiency. Often the patients who receive operations have suffered from deformities their entire lives, frequently at great risk to their physical and mental health. The Operation Smile student association at Middlebury College was founded in 1998.

All events are free. Donations will be accepted at the semi-formal reception and dinner on Saturday, April 6, and reservations are required. For dinner reservations for April 6, or more information on the symposium, contact symposium organizer Mike Azzara at 802-443-3540. For more information and a schedule of the symposium, visit the Middlebury College Web site at http://go.middlebury.edu/users?opsmile.

To follow are events calendar listings:

Events Calendar Listings

“Global Human Health: Perspectives and Possibilities”
Middlebury College
April 1-6

Monday, April 1
4:30 p.m.
Lecture: “How Then Shall We Live?” by Dr. Steven Shackford, chairman of the department of surgery at University of Vermont College of Medicine and surgeon-in-chief at Fletcher Allen Health Care, Burlington, Vt. His talk will use the life of Dr. Albert Schweizer to convey the physician’s call to service.
Robert A. Jones House, Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125)

Tuesday, April 2
4:30 p.m.
Lecture: “Alleviating Poverty, Improving Health: the Work of the World Bank” by Varun Gaun, economist at the World Bank Group
Robert A. Jones House, Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125)

Wednesday, April 3
4:30 p.m.
Lecture: “Disease Prevention and Control in the Americas: How Do We Stand?” by Dr. Stephen J. Corber, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Pan-American Health Organization’s (PAHO) division for disease prevention and control. PAHO is a regional office of the World Health Organization.
Robert A. Jones House, Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125)

Thursday, April 4
4:30 p.m.
Lecture: “The Fight Against World Blindness” by Dr. Geoff Tabin, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and co-director of the university’s Himalayan Cataract Project.
Room 216, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

6 p.m.
Dinner: Dining Room, Le Chateau
Free
Parking available in College lot off Weybridge Street (Route 23) off College Street (Route 125).

7 p.m.
Lecture: “The Challenges of Global Health in an Era of Globalization” by Dr. Nils Daulaire, president of the Washington, D.C. and White River Junction, Vt.-based Global Health Council.
Room 216, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

Friday, April 5
1:30 p.m.
Student Panel: “A Student’s Perspective,” Middlebury College seniors discuss their experiences as interns in foreign medical clinics.
Room 220, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

2:30 p.m.
Lecture: “The Importance of Student Exposure and Volunteerism In Operation Smile” by Kathy Magee, co-founder and president of Operation Smile.
Room 220, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

3:15 p.m.
Lecture: “Operation Smile: Collaborative Models for Growth” by Richard Vander Burg, a nurse and senior manager of international programs at Operation Smile.
Room 220, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

4:30 p.m.
Lecture: “Anthropological Dimensions of Global Health: The Role of Experiential Learning” by David Napier, Middlebury College Professor and Dana Faculty Fellow of Anthropology and Art
Room 220, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

Saturday, April 6
11 a.m.
Lecture: “The Environmental and Economic Applications of Medical Recycling” by Dr. William Rosenblatt, the founder of REMEDY (Recovered Medical Equipment for the Developing World) and associate professor of anesthesiology at the Yale University School of Medicine. He is the recipient of the 1996 Rolex Award for Enterprise.
Robert A. Jones House, Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125)

12:15 p.m.
Lunch: buffet
Free
Robert A. Jones House, Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125)

1:30 p.m.
Lecture: “Growing Up Without the Basics in a Global Village: Why the Triad of Nutrition, Vaccines and Basic Medicines is Essential for Young Children” by Anne Keith, associate professor of nursing at the University of Southern Maine and founder and director of a health outreach program in the Dominican Republic.
Robert A. Jones House, Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125)

3 p.m.
Lecture: “Politics and Pit Latrines: Dilemmas in Humanitarian Relief” by Dr. Michael Curtis, a member of the Surgery Department at Dartmouth College Medical School who has worked for Doctors Without Borders in Bosnia, Macedonia and Bangladesh.
Robert A. Jones House, Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125)

6-10 p.m.
Semi-formal Dinner and Keynote Address: Reception at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. At 8 p.m., Dr. William Magee, co-founder of Operation Smile, will deliver the keynote address, “Operation Smile: 20 Years of Helping Children.”
Great Hall, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

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