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DOCARE Trip to Guatemala Helps Community, Teaches Students
Spring break was an opportunity for MSUCOM students, faculty and alumni to help in Guatemala through a medical mission trip. DOCARE International -- a medical outreach organization dedicated to providing much-needed healthcare to indigent and isolated people in remote areas around the world -- organized the mission, which visited the San Martin and Chimaltenango regions of Guatemala March 7-21. “We had a total of 118 volunteers go on this trip,” said Interim Associate Dean Gary Willyerd, who led the mission. “We saw more than 4,000 patients during our two-week stay in these regions. We had a great group of students, residents and doctors with us. When we set up a clinic at a location, we have different stations for certain problems, so if persons have skin conditions, they would end up at the dermatology station, but if they had a problem with their knees, they would find help at the orthopedic station. The medical students with us spent time at each station, which gave them a variety of different experiences.” “This was my second time on a medical mission to Guatemala,” said ’08 alumnus Eric Greenburg. “I went as a fourth-year student last year. I was hoping to be able to do more to help people than I could last year. You see a lot of unique things you just wouldn’t see in the U.S.”
Greenburg has learned the importance of communication and understanding a patient’s culture when it comes to diagnosing a problem. “Their perception of illness and the way they talk about it is different. A lot of patients will come in saying ‘my nerves are bothering me,’ which we really didn’t understand initially. You can know a lot about medicine, but if you can’t understand your patients, it makes it very challenging to help them.” Students and residents weren’t the only ones present on the trip. Dr. Christina Dokter, curriculum director for academic programs, was doing some research on the twelve MSUCOM students who went on this mission. “I wanted to see some of the experiences they were getting while on a mission trip and what are the gains for them to be on these trips,” she said. Dokter’s initial findings show there are a lot of benefits for the medical students. “They learn about diversity, get exposed to other cultures, bond with residents and doctors, and get a lot of clinical experience,” said Dokter. “I think every student should go on at least one trip while in medical school if they can.”
“We had a chance to help a lot of people and learn a lot from each other,” said Greenburg. “The people were so grateful for the help. If there was anything frustrating about the trip it was that there were some patients with conditions we couldn’t treat with the supplies we brought, but there were others with joint problems, for example, that we could bring immediate relief to with a simple injection. That’s how you make a difference, helping those you can.”
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