Project World Health

Who We Are

USF Project World Health (PWH) is an organization founded and led by medical students at the University of South Florida. Since its establishment in 1991, PWH has provided basic health-care services to impoverished communities abroad. Its mission is to meet the needs of underserved communities by offering sustainable patient care, health education and preventative medicine.

Originally, the group provided medical supplies and assistance on service trips to underserved populations in Colombia, Haiti, Honduras and Cuba. In 2000, PWH embarked on its first trip to Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, with a small team of students, one physician and one nurse.

Since then, over 900 PWH students have volunteered on medical outreach trips to Jarabacoa. The team has grown from just 13 on the first trip to Cuba to over 100 students, nurses and physicians on the 2019 Jarabacoa trip. After a brief hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization resumed its mission in 2023 with eager students, residents and nurses ready to provide international health care. Through their passion and dedication, we aim to continue the PWH mission for many years to come.

What We Do

^{PWH is celebrating 26 years of providing care to communities in the Dominican Republic, with over 1,500 student experiences contributing to this ongoing effort.}

^{In March, our team traveled to Jarabacoa, where, over five days and four clinic sites, our group of students, residents, dentists, nurses and other volunteers partnered with local leaders and clinics to provide care to 462 patients. Together, we dispensed over 34,000 doses of medications and vitamins and administered 242 fluoride treatments to both adults and children. The trip was a powerful reminder of what can be accomplished when compassion and collaboration come together. If you'd like to find out more about what we do, please read our fall 2025 newsletter here, which provides a glimpse into the trip and the impact of donor support.}

^{We’re also excited to share we’ll be hosting the Project World Health Gala on Jan. 24, 2026, from 5-8 p.m. on the USF St. Petersburg campus, and we would love to see you there! For more information regarding the event, please email jbarranco@usf.edu.}

Your Impact

In March 2026, PWH will return to Jarabacoa to examine patients, make diagnoses, perform minor procedures, prescribe medications and distribute hygiene products. Its interprofessional group, including physicians, residents, nurses, pharmacists and USF medical students, expects to serve hundreds of individuals throughout the week. For many, this will be the only health care they receive all year.

Your contribution will help provide medication and supplies that cannot be donated and support travel expenses in recruiting a dedicated group of skilled volunteers.

USF Faculty and Staff: You can give online through this site or complete this payroll deduction form (enter fund #251320, Project World Health Fund) and email it to fscampaign@usf.edu.

Spread the Word

We are counting on your help! Make an even bigger impact by sharing your support of this campaign using the social media icons at the top of this page.

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Join us in empowering USF Health physicians, residents, nurses, pharmacists and medical students to bring essential care to underserved communities in the Dominican Republic at usf.to/projectworldhealth.
Your support reaches far beyond borders and changes lives worldwide. Thank you and Go Bulls! 🤘