USAD is a tagalog word which means movement, development, or progress
WELCOME!
Ateneo de Zamboanga University – School of Medicine’s exceptional vision and mission result to a unique element in the School's curriculum, which is a profound community immersion. To immerse is to live with the people within their community.
The barangay we serve is Barangay Upper Salug Daku, Mahayag, ZAmbonaga del Sur.
To be immersed is to travel for a strenuous kilometers on a rough road to reach the barangay. To be immersed is to walk on a steep mountain to reach the top. To be immersed is to walk around the barangay as though it is our own barangay. In simple words, to be immersed is to live like the people themselves.
We do not spend our days there leisurely. Our purpose there is not only to experience how they live, but also help them help themselves to be healthy. For health in its entirety does not only pertain to the physical aspect, the cultural, social, and environmental aspect are also touched. By living with them, it is easier for us to determine the different root causes and effects of some of the health problems perceived. As always mentioned in the school, the people themselves provide solutions for their own problem and we, the students, are there to assist them so that they can attain the solutions for their own problem. With the people’s participation, the projects to be done are considered as their own since it came from them.
This immersion is an avenue for us medical students to be able to experience how life is for the less privileged people. This can help us in our future career to be better doctors for the less privileged. One thing I learned in our community immersion is to never give up because there are many solutions to a problem. We just need to find the most appropriate and achievable solution to fix the problem permanently.