Medical Educators for Latin America - Minnesota

Building Life-saving Partnerships through Medical Education

MELA is dedicated to the continuing education and the teaching of life-saving skills to providers in Latin America.  We accomplish this by organizing medical educations conferences and enlisting volunteer educators  from the US and other countries to  teach local healthcare providers. Our conferences in Bolivia attract more than 300 doctors, dentists, and nurses.

The majority of our volunteers are practicing and retired health professionals, however, Medical Students, Residents and Fellows from the US and other countries can share knowledge with Latin American colleagues. Our goal is to help them to recognize and manage potentially life-threatening conditions. MELA feels that teaching and interacting with our colleagues in Latin America provides an invaluable experience for our young physicians and students.  

To successfully complete our mission and be effective educators, we rely on Spanish interpreters. Interpreters are always needed and  are a valuable asset allowing our Education Team to be effective and efficient in completing their education goals and objectives. For many of our students, residents and interpreters, the cost of traveling to Latin America is prohibitive and robs them of a most rewarding experience. Thus, through donations, MELA awards travel assistance to this group to defray the cost of getting to Bolivia.

Our conference in Cochabamba, Bolivia has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, however, we continue to get updates on the status of the infection management by the country. Once we know that travel to Bolivia is less restrictive and safe for our volunteers, we will keep you posted.