Fall 2013 Brigade

Blogger: Anna Goodheart, 3rd year medical student

    Hola! We've arrived safely in San Jose! We rode up the mountain in the back of a couple of pick up trucks, and saw some absolutely gorgeous views! A lot of the landscape here appears largely untouched, but there are also houses and farms interspersed among the greenery. Some of the farms have corn growing on almost vertical slopes, and I can't even imagine how much hard work must go into farming here. There are also banana trees, coffee trees, and tons of corn.

    Sunday evening we all settled in. It turns out that there was no running water for our first night, but it was quickly fixed the next morning. We are staying in dormitories with bunk beds. Meals are cooked for us by some amazing women. The food here is SO good. Even for us vegetarians, there is tons to eat - there are plenty of delicious handmade tortillas and refried beans. The coffee here is also excellent - it's picked locally on the mountain and made fresh by the women and has a naturally sweet taste to it.

    Today, a group went to  Vista Hermosa for well child checks, and a group of us stayed behind at the clinic. At the clinic there is one team that runs the pharmacy and another team that sees patients in the clinic. I got to see three patients in the morning, with the help of a translator. It is amazing how much medical care is provided here despite lacking many of the resources that we have become used to having in the States. It also forces us to think on our feet more because we don't always have tests or the drugs here that we would normally use back home.

    The clinic here has one full time doctor, Tanya, who works here at the clinic all year round, with a nurse and a dentist. This brigade comes down every six months, brining supplies with us. Our role is to travel to other villages to do well child visits and also to help out at the clinic as much as we can. It is great training for us as medical students because we get to experience how to make diagnoses without all of the expensive equipment and tests that we are used to relying on. The history and physical exam thus becomes an even more vital aspect of medicine here, and we get to work on our skills. It is also great training for those of us interested in global health and in providing medical care to underserved populations. The clinic here was built by the community, funded by Shoulder to Shoulder. Decisions are made by a health committee here, epitomizing the concept of community oriented primary care.

    In the afternoon, a group of us took a walk with two of the translators in clinic, who showed us around parts of the town. The views in every direction are absolutely beautiful. We met a hammock maker who twists his own twine and weaves hammocks of beautiful colors and patterns. After dinner, we had some time to reflect on our day to read and to play cards.

    Tomorrow, there will be yoga and/or jogging groups in the morning for people who are interested, and then I am looking forward to another day working in clinic!