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Intern Journal: Working on a Mobile Clinic

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As an intern at MEDLIFE, getting to work the mobile clinics week-in week-out during the clinic seasons is definitely a perk.

I awake most days at 6am, which sounds horrific but after a couple months of Lima’s infamous grey winter skies, the sunshine that fills my room in the morning is compensation enough. It seeps through my blinds, thick like syrup filling the air — a glaring luster that beats any alarm clock that I’ve ever owned. After a short walk through the district of Miraflores, with its leafy suburban streets punctuated at this time by joggers, dog-walkers and gardeners, I arrive at the hostel: a hive of excited activity. The breakfast room is filled with stories of yesterday’s tour and discussions on what will fill the day ahead.

By the time the bus leaves – normally after a healthy dose of ‘Peruvian flexible time’ – this excitement is reaching its peak. The driver cuts his way through the hustling morning traffic, to the soundtrack of beeping horns and passing cumbia rhythm. As we power further away from the urban metropolis that is Miraflores and deeper into the barrio of Villa El Salvador, there are fewer cars on the roads and increasingly more people, as one would expect on entering a 35 km2 area, home to almost 400,000 residents. Roads become market places, filled with vendors selling fish, vegetables, clothes, watch repairs and live chickens amongst other things.arthurbloglineWe pull into a small plaza where we grind to a hault. There is already a queue of about 50 people patiently waiting for us. We unload the supplies into the street: boxes of medicines, tents, dentist chairs and OB/GYN beds, whilst a muffled voice attempts to drum up attention through a distorted tannoy system overhead. Within minutes our disheveled pile on the road has transformed itself into a fully funcional clinic in full-flow. A mobile clinic is composed of seven stations: triage, education, medicine, dentist, OB/GYN, pharmacy and toothbrushing. Patients are first seen in the triage where their vitals are taken and recorded, they are then held in the education tent until the appropriate doctors are ready to see them. When running smoothly (ie. most of the time) a MEDLIFE clinic resembles a finely cogged machine: humming, perring until the day is done.

I spend a lot of my time in the medical tent translating the doctor’s diagnoses, which range from the common cold to parasitic infections, and even tumors. I am constantly shocked at how avoidable the majority of the conditions we treat are — the result of a lack of basic knowledge of personal hygiene, bacteria and nutrition. By midday, the sun’s intensity is reaching its apogee, and the students, who have plucked themselves away from one of the coldest US winters in history, are revelling in it. They roll up their sleeves and shut their eyes tightly, with their faces tilted towards the clear blue sky, and they hold it there until the heat gets too much or they are called into action by a nearby nurse.

As the queue for triage finally begins to shrink, and the doctor sitting on my left wipes the sweat from his brow, the local children find the courage to initiate games with the students. They throw water balloons, kick a can around and enjoy a wealth of attention, embracing the great photo opportunities that they are providing the students. By the time the last balloon is thrown the last patient of the day leaves the OB/GYN room and initiates a conversation with Doctor Raul about her cats. She talks quick, with a thick accent impenetrable to my level of spanish. She keeps talking whilst everything around her is dismantled, including the tent in which she has found herself.

As the sun sinks lower in the sky the light resumes its thick golden aesthetic and the bus pulls away. We leave no trace behind but for the laughing children who chase the bus until out of sight.

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Hear it From MEDLIFErs

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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.