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Mobile Clinic Update: On the Ground and On the Job

Written by student volunteers from this week’s clinic in Lima, Peru, and reposted from the MEDLIFE McGill blog.

Today was our first day of clinic. After a quick breakfast and wishing good luck to those of us that were headed to the grueling stairs construction project, we packed our materials and headed to a district near Pamplona Alta for the day.

My first station was general medicine with Cesar, a physician who’d specialized in geriatric care. Before the patients began rolling in, Cesar took those of us assigned to his station aside and began teaching. With humour and patience, he showed us how to distinguish abnormal heart and lung sounds from those of normal beats and breaths. He also introduced us to some ailments specific to the living conditions of the villagers; he directed our attention to the signs of anemia and vitamin A deficiency (discoloured gums and mucosa and white spots on the skin, respectively). As well, we got to see first-hand many cases of tonsilitis and parasite infections, as well as an older woman afflicted with ptosis, thus causing her to have a droopping eylid on one side only.

drcesar

By noon, I was getting hungry – my breakfast of bread, banana and egg was now long gone – but I didn’t want to leave Cesar’s side. There were always more patients to ascultate, more heart sounds to hear.

Eventually (and somewhat reluctantly), I did head for lunch and to my next station, but not before taking the time to pass over the knowledge I had gathered to the friends that were coming to replace me.

In the afternoon, triage proved equally interesting, albeit a bit more challenging since we were directly interacting with patients. My Spanish is far from perfect, but I was relieved to realize that I spoke well enough to be understood clearly by the villagers, even on my first try. Keeping a big smile on my face and using even larger gestures helped, too.

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Reya Seby
Western University

This trip motivated me more to pursue a career in the healthcare field so that I can use my resources to help those who need it the most, similar to MEDLIFE’s mission.

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Victoria DiCanio
University of Connecticut

It was most enjoyable to finish the hard work and see how big a difference a group of individuals can make. It was such an amazing experience.

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Anita Woo
University of Toronto

I enjoyed the mobile clinics the most, especially the dental and triage portions. I would definitely recommend a MEDLIFE trip, it was a great experience.

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David Saff
Maclay High School

The most enjoyable part of my trip was hanging out with the amazing group of kids I was with. I would highly recommend a MEDLIFE volunteer trip to others.

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Sydney Sansone
Nova Southeastern University

This trip made everything that I was learning in my public health courses come to life and immersed me in a new culture while also learning about medicine.

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Abygail Youmans
College of Charleston

Being involved with MEDLIFE is not like joining another club - its bigger than that. It is about joining a movement that seeks to help change people’s quality of life for forever.

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Emi Hofmann
University of Central Florida

Not only was I able to participate in a week long Mobile Clinic, shadowing doctors of all types of specialties including pharmacy, dentistry, gynecology, and more, but I was also able to learn about the culture and visit incredible places.

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Julian Takagi-Stewart
University of Toronto

One thing that I really loved about this trip was that MEDLIFE made sure that the volunteers got an understanding of the complexity of issues that lead to underprivileged people in communities outside of the main city

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Hannah Van Hofwegen
University of Ottawa

Whether it was basketball with the local kids, assisting the doctors, talking with families, building washrooms, holding babies, or spending time with the people who were on the SLT with me, this was an amazing opportunity that I would do over and over again.

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Isabelle Holt
Cornell University

I loved learning about the patients MEDLIFE has followed and how they offer real help to people with chronic/urgent conditions. It is amazing how the organization formed real connections with the communities.

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Valerie Lindeborg
Parent

Our family had the privilege of participating in multiple trips with Nick [founder] and his amazing staff. Their expertise made the trips unforgettable while instilling in my boys the fundamentals of good character: selflessness, compassion, and empathy.

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Harry Vildibill
University of Georgia

As an aspiring physician, MEDLIFE motivated me to further continue my goal of becoming a doctor. In fact, I enjoyed the Tanzania Service Learning Trip so much that I decided to go on another trip to Cusco, Peru.