According to Meghna a general member of the PACCT project team...
What does M-HEAL do?
M-HEAL stands for Michigan Health Engineered for All Lives. It is a student organization that does mainly biomedical engineering focused on socially engaged design. M-HEAL is composed of several project teams, but one that is most relevant to women’s reproductive health is a project titled Preventable Accessible Cervical Cancer Testing (PACCT). This project team is partnered with the Corlebu Hospital in Ghana. It is currently in the process of designing a device to replace the pap smear which is the primary method for testing for cervical cancer. Less than 2.5% of the general population in Ghana receive a pap smear or other kind of HPV testing. At the same time HPV is the most common malignancy in the gynecology department at that hospital. The pap smear is uncomfortable and often difficult to perform on women with accessibility issues. Therefore, PACCT has designed a device that collects urine samples from women when they use the bathroom at this hospital. Should they consent to being tested for HPV they simply need to use the bathroom and the rest is done for them. PACCT believes more accessible testing will encourage women to receive or even seek out HPV testing more often. There are several other project teams that anyone interested can apply to become part of!
How can I get involved with M-HEAL?
There are no events for people who are not members of the club. However, M-HEAL does recruit in the fall and winter semesters. Recruitment for each project team varies based on need. Some might recruit and some might not so make sure to check beforehand if there is a specific project team you’re interested in. Anyone with a genuine interest is encouraged to apply and will likely get onto a project team they are interested in. An applicant ranks the project teams they would like to be part of during the application process and in turn the project teams also rank applicants. These rankings are put through an algorithm that then matches everyone. Therefore, it is very likely an applicant will end up on a project team they are genuinely interested in.
Where can I learn more about M-HEAL?
M-HEAL has a Maize Pages in which anyone who is interested in discovering more about this organization can easily access more contact information. M-HEAL also has a website that provides information on their projects and how to become a member. https://mheal.engin.umich.edu/
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