Eli's last post

I just want to reflect on the different environment that we were in in Panama, and how things differed from what we expected. Where we worked in the clinics, it was fascinating even to just observe. The nurses and doctor's operated really quite similarly to how we do in the US, but the patient's seemed different. I do think that the language barrier and even just our presence as students contributed to this, but they seemed even a little afraid of having to be in a clinic to get help at all. Most conversations were very short, with simple answers to detailed questions by the practitioners. Patients were incredibly hesitant to go to hospitals even in emergencies. It seems to me that there is a pretty big gap between what health care is there, and how it is perceived by the natives. I heard that another students research showed that pap smears are often thought of to be birth control, and to protect against STD's... This misunderstanding could explain the high incidence of STD's and cervical cancer there, and shows that much more education is needed, and quite honestly could probably be more helpful than some of the services that the people there are getting. At the health fair there was a pretty impressive turnout, although communities within a mile told us that they didn't even know it was happening. The nurses really seemed to love their jobs there, and also seemed very up to date, showing that despite the incredible distance between real civilization they were able to stay on top of their education. I can see how working in health care in this area could be mentally exhausting though, seeing the hardships of the people and having limited access to help them was even frustrating for us in our brief visit there.

Second post from Eli

Although the people of the Comarca are faced with poverty and adversity greater than many of us could even imagine, there is still much we could learn from their culture. The resourcefulnes of the inhabitants was amazing. They utilized just about everything they had around them, from building brooms out of palm tree limbs to building entire houses out of bamboo. Unlike our culture, if something broke they tended to fix it rather than throw it out. Familiy and community structure seemed to operate in a different manner as well. The kids were offten free to roam from house to house in the village being watched by the whole community rather than only their parents. Most of the families welcomed us into thier houses and were more than willing to offer us what little they had, which is nearly opposite to the actions toward strangers that you see in the US. Coming from a culture that is often considered to place too much value on material things, it was enlightening to witness a culture that embraces the simple things in life.

Eli's Blog Uno-health fair in Alto Caballero

(I'm writing through Addie's login because I've have been unable to sign into the group) Being a part of the CoN in panama was an amazing experience for so many reasons. The entire group of instructors, students and even Dario the bus driver were great! It was such an amazing blend of personalities; everyone brought something to the table and did it with a smile. Panama had so much to offer, the countryside, the rain forest, the volcano Baru, the Pacific, the Caribbean, the wildlife, and the people, everything about the trip was nothing short of breathtaking. Even though the majority of the people that we came in contact with during our trip in the Comarca were impoverished beyond anything that I could have previously imagined, they still found a way to smile and invite you into their home and offer even the little that they had. What I learned while in the Comarca will go with me for the rest of my life, and if I take nothing else with me, I will have at least gained an immense appreciation for all that I have in life and all the opportunity that I posses.

La Clinica de Soloy

I spent most of my clinical time in the community of Soloy. On our first day in the clinic we didn’t really know what to expect. The clinic itself was a free-standing building with sections for child well-visits, maternity, and an urgent care section as well. There was a large central waiting room, and each section of the clinic would call for their patients individually. On day one, I shadowed what we would consider in the U.S. a primary care physician for a few hours and tried to keep up with what she was saying. She spoke a little English and I spoke a little Spanish, so there was a substantial amount of gesturing and squinting to try to convey what we were trying to say to each other. Luckily, many of the drug names looked very similar, and some of the diagnostic terms were similar as well. Interestingly, acetaminophen is the same in English and in Spanish; the key difference being its pronunciation.

On our second day in the community, we arrived better prepared. We brought paper and crayons and set up a little station to keep the kids occupied until they or their parents were called to be seen. We didn’t actually have coloring books, so Christine and I drew shapes for them to color. They called Christine "maestra" which means teacher; it was absolutely adorable.

At one point, Dr. Cadena came over and told Addie and I that it would be a good idea to do a little patient education for all of the adults in the waiting room. We gently tore the influenza poster off the wall and tried our best to make sense in Spanish as we read the poster to the men and women in the waiting room. I’m assuming we got our point across because we got a few laughs when Addie pretended to sneeze on her hand and then touch me, and I acted like I was really disgusted. We were trying to teach them to do the Dracula sneeze into their elbows. We ended up having a lot of fun at the clinics!