News and Publications

Explore News and Publications Related to StS

October 2023:

Dr. David McKenna reports on October brigade activities and their experiences in Guachipilincito.

Read the Report Here

August 2023:

CREE Team Member, Edelberto, participates in a Kolibri “Ask Me Anything” Forum

Read his Reflection Blog

April 2023:

Local Reporter creates a mini-documentary on our collaboration with Chispa Project to train our Kolibri teachers [Spanish]

Watch the Mini-documentary

April 2023:

Chispa Project shares our training collaboration.

Facebook Post here

April 2023:

Scholarship Program Collaborates with the Christine Merveil Never Back Down Foundation to Support a Brother and Sister on starting a business.

Watch Yeimy’s Report

Winter 2023:

North Carolina Pharmacist publication features Pharmacy students Nancy Tran and Kristian Catahan, along with Dr. Carrie Griffiths on their experiences in Guachipilincito.

Read their Reflection Article

December 2022:

Scholarship Program Collaborates with the Christine Merveil Never Back Down Foundation to Support a Brother and Sister on starting a business.

Watch Robert’s Report

October 2022:

HCH TV of FIRST Global team at Geneva Competition [Spanish]

Watch Coverage Here

October 2022:

Team Santa Lucia receives VEX Robotics Training in our STEAM Center

Watch Training Short Here

September 2022:

Summary video of LEGO Regional Robotics Competition

Watch Video Here

HCH TV News Coverage of the LEGO Robotics Competition [Spanish]

Watch Coverage Here

Intibuca Department of Education shared LEGO Competition highlight video.

Watch Here

September 2022:

Team Honduras shares trip to HCH TV News Studios

See Pictures Here

HCH TV News Coverage of FIRST Global Team pre-competition [Spanish]

Watch Coverage Here

Team Honduras for FIRST Global competition

Watch Team Video Here

FIRST Global Team Receives their kit to start building robot for the competition

Watch The Excitement Here

December 2021:

FIRST Global shares the story of our Regional STEM Center from our team members’ perspective

View Facebook post and video

September 2021:

National newspaper coverage of U.S. Embassy role in content development for the IADB tablet grant.

Read CREE Blog of La Tribuna post

Read Diario El Heraldo’s post

August 2021:

Local news coverage of IADB grant tablet deployment with Dick Buten interview.

View Facebook post and video

July 2021:

Local news highlights our agreement with World Vision to provide tablets for their scholarship students.

View Facebook post and watch video

World Vision shares highlights of the event and deployment.

View Facebook post and photos

July 2021:

The IADB and Japan promote technological platform in rural areas of Honduras

Read the article

March 2021:

Dick Buten visits Camasca to Inaugurate the Regional STEM Center.

Read CREE blog and view local news coverage

March 2021:

U.S. Honduras Embassy remarks on the inauguration of the recently built Regional STEM Center.

Read CREE blog and see video

January 2021:

CREE team member, Minsis, presents how StS is using Kolibri during covid distance-learning

View Webinar video – Minsis starts at minute 41

October 2020:

Learning Equality celebrates National Teacher’s Day and highlights our frontera teachers from their visit.

View Facebook post & Read Carine’s blog

February 2020:

      • Dr. Benjamin H. Josephson was a dedicated humanitarian. The BHJ Fund created in his name provides medical professionals with financial assistance to volunteer medical services to underserved populations throughout the world.
      • Brittany Canfield, RN – Scholar Reflection 

November 2019:

      • Dr. Richard Buten, StS President reflects on his fall Education trip to Honduras. 
      • Read more here

November 2019:

November 2019:

Honduran TV station highlights positive elements of StS’s Bilingual School [Spanish]

Watch the coverage.

November 2019:

National newspaper, La Prensa, writes about StS’s Robotics team in International Robotics Competition [Spanish]

Read the articles: Before the competition & Post-Competition

October 2019:

HCH: National news congratulates our FIRST Global team’s return and international placement! [Spanish]

See video of news coverage 

September 2019:

HCH: National news highlights FIRST Global team to help raise funds for travelling. [Spanish]

See video of news coverage

September 2019:

Local News station highlights our FIRST Global team preparing for the competition in Dubai. [Spanish]

View Facebook post & video

September 2019

      • StS President Richard Buten Reflects on his visit to Honduras and our collaboration with Learning Equality
      • Read the blog here 

September 2019:

Learning Equality celebrates National Teacher’s Day and highlights out frontera professor, Disney Mendoza.

View Facebook post & read Disney’s reflection in Spanish

Fall 2019

Summer 2019

December 2018

      • Vicenzo Malo, a Duke University undergraduate student,  reflects on his summer 2018 public health internship in Camasca Read Here

October 2018

      • [Spanish] Secretaria de Educacion –Ministro Solís comparte con estudiantes ganadores del segundo lugar en las olimpiadas de robótica en México Leer mas aqui

August 2018

      • [Spanish] El Heraldo : Hondureños ganan el segundo lugar en el Mundial de Robótica en México Leer mas aqui 

February 2018

      • Dr. Benjamin H. Josephson was a dedicated humanitarian. The BHJ Fund created in his name provides medical professionals with financial assistance to volunteer medical services to underserved populations throughout the world.
      • Dr. Daniel Mendez – Scholar Reflection 

November 2017 

      • Dr. Benjamin H. Josephson was a dedicated humanitarian. The BHJ Fund created in his name provides medical professionals with financial assistance to volunteer medical services to underserved populations throughout the world.
      • Dr. Kody Nilsson – Scholar Reflection

October 2017

Volunteer Grace Twohig write for Learning Equality Website Blog, Shoulder to Shoulder Connects Rural Honduran Communities to KA Lite 

August 2017

A Model for Mission Dentistry in a Developing Country, Jan Hexamer Tepe and Lawrence J. Tepe, frontiers in Public Health, 02 August, 2017.

August 2017

June 2017

      • Brigade Member Stacey reflects on assisting with the Surgical Brigade Read About it Here

January 2017

Shoulder to Shoulder announces that fourteen high-school students from Camasca and Concepcion will form the FIRST Global robotics team. Seven of the fourteen will be chosen to compete in the FIRST Global International Olympic Games in Robotics. This is a great event for increasing attention and promotion on Shoulder to Shoulder’s mission in education on the Frontera. Read the article.  (en español)

November 2016

UNAH’s Collaboration with San Marcos de la Sierra- projects (Spanish) PDF 

April 2016

UWs Linda Johnson Honored for Work in Honduras, University of Wyoming website, UW News

February 2016

      • Dr. Benjamin H. Josephson was a dedicated humanitarian. The BHJ Fund created in his name provides medical professionals with financial assistance to volunteer medical services to underserved populations throughout the world.
      • Dr. Claire Thomson – Scholar Reflection

December 2015

June 2015

      • Long Island University Pharmacy students joined the May Colomoncagua Brigade and wrote a reflection on their experience.  Click Here to Read it

March 2015

      • Dr. Benjamin H. Josephson was a dedicated humanitarian. The BHJ Fund created in his name provides medical professionals with financial assistance to volunteer medical services to underserved populations throughout the world.
      • Dr. Nicole Comer – Scholar Reflection

March 2015

Dr. Gregory Cygan, DDS reflects about his trip to Concepcion in University of Rochester Medical Center News

March 2015:

Historic agreement signed between the Universidad Nacional Autónomo de Honduras (UNAH) (National Autonomous University of  Honduras) and the Municipalities of San Marcos de la Sierra y Yamaranguila.

PDF (Spanish)

February 2015

      • Dr. Benjamin H. Josephson was a dedicated humanitarian. The BHJ Fund created in his name provides medical professionals with financial assistance to volunteer medical services to underserved populations throughout the world.
      • Dr. Mahvash Mujahid – Scholar Reflection

November 2014

      • Dr. Benjamin H. Josephson was a dedicated humanitarian. The BHJ Fund created in his name provides medical professionals with financial assistance to volunteer medical services to underserved populations throughout the world.
      • Dr. April Rosalez – Scholar Reflection

July 2014

Assessing Youth Well-Being in Rural Honduras: A Qualitative Study By M. Y. Kubik, B. R. Jennings, N. M. Olivier, July 2, 2014, Publish by Public Health I28 (2014) 671-673

March 2014:

La Tribuna (Honduras) features a retrospective on Shoulder to Shoulder’s health and education impact in Intibucá. Read the article. (en español)

November 2013

      • Dr. Benjamin H. Josephson was a dedicated humanitarian. The BHJ Fund created in his name provides medical professionals with financial assistance to volunteer medical services to underserved populations throughout the world.
      • Dr. Daniel Murphy – Scholar Reflection

April 2013:

President Wayne Waite receives Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award from University of Dayton Law School for his work with Shoulder to Shoulder.

Read the release.

April 2013

Micronutrient Supplement Decreases Diarrhea and Respiratory Morbidity in Rural Honduran Children (Mathile Institute for the Advancement of Human Nutrition Abstract)

January 2013:

University of Minnesota Masters of Nursing student Anna Terry describes her research of hypertension prevalence in Concepción in Minnesota Nursing Magazine.

Read her article and her Q & A.

December 2012

Childhood immunization rates in rural Intibucá, Honduras: an analysis of a local database tool and community health center records for assessing and improving vaccine coverage Published by BMC Public Health

September 2012:

Executive Director Dr. Emily Harrison Receives Humanitarian of the Year Award from the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Read the Release.

March 2012

Special thanks to Chiquita

Shoulder to Shoulder recently met with representatives from Chiquita Brands, LLC in Cincinnati to convey our deep appreciation for their years of assistance and of goods and services donations. We’re proud to share their video about our work together in Honduras!  See video here

March 2012

University of Wyoming’s Report on Brigade Safety

“The Wyoming Brigade just returned successfully from Honduras.  The most traumatic experience was the Miami Airport (plan on 3 hours to get through customs upon return!).

For future brigades: we felt no security risk and felt very comfortable with S2S staff with special thanks to Marvin and Maggie who were outstanding.  Honduras is a wonderful vibrant country with very friendly people.  We see no reason for Brigades to be any more concerned about security than in the past.”

Ron Iverson, MD, FACEP
Chairman Department of Emergency Medicine
Wyoming Medical Center
Casper, WY

Winter 2011-2012:

Dr. Emily Harrison publishes in Brown Medicine Magazine

Read the Article

June 2011

President Wayne Waite featured in Dayton Magazine for his work with Shoulder to Shoulder

Read the Article

August 2011

Fall 2010

ADA and Shoulder to Shoulder Dentists collaborate to form Developing World Dental Policy

Dr. Larry and Dr. Jan Tepe work closely with the American Dental Association to develop policy for dental care by dentists from the US. Read the article

Fall 2010

U of West Virginia Brigade Fall 2010

The University of West Virginia, an affiliate of Shoulder to Shoulder, services a very poor and remote area in northern Honduras called Ocote Paulino. Read their brigade report!

Fall 2010

Dr. Therese Zink M.D. M.P.H writes about her recent trip to Honduras Published Minnesota Medicine

November 2010

Honduran Cardinal Rodriguez Visits Cincinnati

Cardinal Rodriguez visits Cincinnati in support of the partnership of Good Shepard Parish and Shoulder to Shoulder in our project to further education in Intibucá. Read the article!

March 2010

Letter of Support from Cardinal Rodriguez

The Cardinal visited Cincinnati in support of the partnership between Good Shephard Parish and StS in furthering education in Intibucá. He writes: “It is a pleasure for me to participate with your proposal to construct a bilingual school in Concepción, Intibucá. Intibucá is one of the neediest areas in Honduras. Shoulder to Shoulder has made great strides bettering the health care in several of the most isolated communities such as Santa Lucia, Magdalena and Concepción.” → Read the full letter

March 2010

Shoulder to Shoulder’s Strategic Plan for Comprehensive Health Care for the Frontier

This proposal has the potential to demonstrate improvement in access to vital services for the people who live in the municipalities of San Marcos Sierra, Concepción, Magdalena, San Antonio and Santa Lucia within 60 months, beginning March, 2010. → View proposal

February 2010:

Imaging Technology News Highlights Shoulder to Shoulder’s Radiology and Telemedicine Technology

Digital Imaging Delivers Modern Medicine to the Developing World (2/23/2010)

Radiology IT Explores New Frontiers (2/4/2010)

January 2010

University of Wyoming Hoofprints Newsletter

A group of 19 students and faculty from the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing (FWWSON) and physicians from UW and the family medicine residency programs traveled to Honduras in November 2009 for the School’s fourth brigade with S2S. → Read the newsletter

Winter 2009-2010

Matthew Malek describes his work as a researcher and community health volunteer with Shoulder to Shoulder to the University of Rochester Medicine Magazine.

Read the article.

UNC physician describes her S2S visit in American Academy of Family Physicians Magazine

Martha Carlough, UNC physician describes her recent trip to Santa Lucia with Shoulder to Shoulder in AAFP’s winter 2010 newsletter.

August 2008

“Rapid Assessment of Access to Primary Care in Remote Parts of the Developing World,” published in Field Methods by Temple University

May 2008

“Anna man follows his heart” (Alex Freisthler RN commits to a year of volunteer work with S2S), published in Sidney Daily News

May 2008

Jessica Weeks MD and Heang Lim MD volunteer for the poor in Honduras after medical school:

March 2008

Poster presented by Paige Stocks on Pharmacy issues in Honduras (PDF)

January 2008

Front-page article in “La Tribuna,” the national newspaper of Honduras (1/19/2008) (PDF)

October 2007

Shoulder to Shoulder Model By Jeffrey E. Heck, MD; Andrew Bazemore, MD, MPH; Phil Diller, MD, PhD, published in Family Medicine

May 2008

Dr. Jeff Heck receives prestigious award from the Society for Teachers of Family Medicine

In May of 2008 Dr. Jeff Heck, Executive Director of Shoulder to Shoulder, received the Society for Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) 2008 Gabriel Smilkstein Memorial Award at the STFM Annual Spring Conference in Baltimore. The award is given annually to honor a member of the STFM community whose work exemplifies that of the late Gabriel Smilkstein, MD, in furthering the development of family medicine education throughout the world. The following is Jeff’s acceptance speech.

If it was easy, someone else would have done it a long time ago. This is the unofficial motto of the three dozen or so family physicians who make up the corps of the physicians who have dedicated their time, effort and resources to make Shoulder to Shoulder a successful organization that has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty and improving health, nutrition and education in some of the poorest areas in the world. The challenges are great, but as family physicians, they know how to work shoulder to shoulder with nurses, dentists, engineers, anthropologists, teachers, lawyers, firefighters, builders to improve the health of the community. Adept at working in teams and aware of the value of relationships, they have partnered with the leadership of towns and villages where few resources are available and built a socially responsive, sustainable program. To family physicians it should be no surprise that after nearly two decades of this team effort Shoulder to Shoulder has accomplished much. There are now 13 academic health centers that partner with communities providing a vast array of services and because they return year after year, genuine change has occurred in the health status of the communities involved.

Most of the family physicians working with Shoulder to Shoulder are also teachers and have done their work together with medical students, residents and junior faculty. Over the years, nearly 1000 learners have volunteered their time to work with their mentors. By helping, learning and reflecting during short term volunteer efforts, these learners have experienced the generosity and stamina of poor communities discovering or re-discovering the joy of the healing arts and the personal enrichment that comes from applying your profession to helping those in need. I have observed this many times and believe it is the second mission of Shoulder to Shoulder. It is our antidote to the disaffection with the business of medicine and the balm for our easily acquired cynicism.

So on behalf of the family physicians, specialty doctors, dentists, nurses, firefighters, lawyers, CEOs, teachers, community leaders and builders that make up Shoulder to Shoulder, thank you for the honor of awarding us with the Gabe Smilkstein award in 2008. It is my hope that we will continue to deserve the honor bestowed on us by the STFM.

Jeffery E. Heck, M.D.
Executive Director, Shoulder to Shoulder