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Health Sciences Students Go Beyond the Border
By: Beth Principi
Posted: April 22, 2009
Two countries, two students and one goal: To provide medical services to those whose access is limited by distance and finance.
Service Learning Without Borders (SLWB) is a group of pre-professional health students who lend medical assistance on international trips. This past spring break they hosted trips to Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Belize, where students got to “play doctor” for a week. After training under fully licensed physicians from the chosen localale , students were familiarized with local diseases and treatments. These physicians stay with the students for the duration of the trip and assist them while they help people in need. All these trips had the same goals, but each student had their own unique experience.
Peru…
“I would never want to get sick there [rural Peru]. It is just amazing how lucky we are.”
Candice Coleman, a sophomore Health Science major, went to Iquitos, Peru for her spring break. Iquitos, which is located on the Amazon River, is said to be the world’s most populous city that has no roads leading to it.
This was the first year James Madison University sent students to Peru, so nobody knew exactly what to expect. “We were told to bring mosquito nets,” recalls Coleman. “We were just prepared for the worst.” But Coleman and the two other students from James Madison were pleasantly surprised when they ended up staying in a hotel.
The time spend in Peru consisted of hospital visits and clinics, where students got to work directly with the patients and provide medical care.
At the hospital, they went on rounds with the local doctors and talked with each patient. The conditions of the hospital were quite different than that of the United States. “They had cots without mattresses and barely any equipment,” recalled Coleman. “They perform surgery there, but I don’t know how they do it.”
When they were not in the hospital, they were running clinics for tribes in the Amazon, where most people have never had medical treatment or met with a doctor. At the clinics the students did everything from taking vitals and blood pressure to screening for breast cancer. They were accompanied by an optometrist, so the students also prescribed glasses and checked for eye diseases, as well as set up pharmacies and handed out medication as prescribed.
“Most of these people couldn’t afford to go to a doctor, let alone buy a bottle of aspirin,” said Coleman. “They would thank you thousands of times after all you did was give them some vitamins or aspirin.”
On new trips, it is difficult to predict how the local community will perceive students, but the Peruvians proved to be welcoming people. “Some of the older women were weeping when they left our clinic because they were so grateful,” said Coleman. “Everyone was all over you, and the kids were going nuts.”
With the small amount of downtime they had, the students took a ride down the Amazon River and went to a “petting zoo.” At the petting zoo, they got to hold monkeys, anacondas, parrots and even crocodiles.
After leaving Peru, Coleman felt upset that she couldn’t stay longer. “I just felt like it wasn’t long enough,” said Coleman. “Its frustrating being in school and learning all the background information because when I was in Peru I was doing what we all want to ultimately do, work with the patients and be hands on.”
The trip made Coleman interested in tropical medicines, but as of right now she is keeping all her options open for the future. She does plan on going on another SLWB trip.
Mexico…
“I cannot imagine if there was an actually emergency, how they would handle it.”
Sophia Wood, a junior Health Sciences major, also went on a SLWB trip. Her trip took her south of the border to Jaumave, Mexico, where she and four others from James Madison University stayed for the week.
Each day, these students would drive to the rural towns around Jaumave to set up clinics. These towns would range anywhere from fifteen minutes to two hours away.
“The towns were more like villages,” recalled Wood. “We would have kids coming up to us asking for toothbrushes and toothpaste. It was a sobering experience.”
The clinics were set up in churches and were separated into three sections: registration, triage and pharmacy. The students worked in groups, and walked each patient through the different sections. The two doctors who went with the students worked using a teaching basis. “Rather than getting every patient as soon as possible, the doctors were showing us why things were happening and made sure we understood,” said Wood.
Students were involved in each step in the process. First the patients were registered, and then they were taken to triage. In triage, students took the patient’s height, weight, blood pressure, temperature, etc., and then prescribed medication at the pharmacy based of their diagnosis. Most of the pharmacy consisted of over the counter medication, but there were also medications specific to the region like parasite medication and antibiotics.
Many of the patients had allergies, diabetes and other chronic illnesses that are difficult to treat without the proper medication.
Wood found that many people didn’t even have simple medication needed for everyday life. “Things like ibuprofen that Americans use on a regular basis, they didn’t have, so the idea of insurance or regular doctor visits and check-ups are nonexistent.”
Wood never felt overwhelmed when helping the patients, but does admit she was not prepared for the language barrier. “The patients laughed with us because a lot of us didn’t know Spanish very well,” said Wood. “But being there made me practice [Spanish].”
When Wood was not working with the patients, she was experiencing what Mexico had to offer. “One day we did a zip line, which was really fun.” Said Wood. “We also had free time at night and we would go out to dinner with the doctors.”
The doctors who run the trips are the only medical care most of the villages ever see. “The doctors we worked for in Mexico do 16 trips a year in Mexico, each to a different place.” Said Wood. “The patients were so appreciative, sometimes they would make us lunch afterward.”
The trip to Mexico reaffirmed that Woods wants to go into the Medical profession for a career, but she hasn’t decided on what field. She did decide that she wants to go on another SLWB trip.
