Tag Archives: physician assistant

UK Medical Student Talks About Health Care in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca

Edd Morris grew up in the United Kingdom (UK) on the Wales-England border.  He just finished medical school in London, England, and decided to return to a Spanish-speaking country to volunteer in a community service project before going on to a two-year hospital residency back home.  He has a passion for people and community health.  When he contacted us about coming to Oaxaca, we helped place him in the Teotitlan del Valle public health clinic. Here is his story.

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“I’ve always wanted be a General Practitioner (that’s what we call Family Doctors in the UK) and so I thought it would be an incredible opportunity to volunteer in a community clinic in rural Mexico.

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[Photo above left: Doctora Elizabet, clinic director, with Edd Morris.  Photo above right: Edd with patient and Dr. Jonas.}

I’ve been here for a month, working alongside the doctors and nurses of the Teotitlan de Valle Centro de Salud. I’ve observed consultations and undertaken my own, too.  I’ve accompanied the nurses on a community vaccination drive, And, I’ve dressed a lot of wounds and ulcers!

One programme here really caught my imagination. It’s called Oportunidades, and it’s a national social support system offered by the Mexican state.

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[Photo above, left to right: Ms. Mayra, administrative manager, Dra. Elizabet, Edd Morris, Dra. Guadalupe]

Through Oportunidades, disadvantaged families can receive financial support from the Mexican Government, as long as they fully participate according to the plan.

There are different strands to the programme — the children in the family must attend school and the head of the household is required to go to seminars about healthy living, for example.

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[Photo above left: Edd with village community service in-take volunteer, and above right, with nursing staff.]

Healthcare is a crucial aspect. Everybody who participates in Oportunidades  must attend a six-month health check with a doctor, and children must be up-to-date with all their vaccines. Doctors should bring up relevant issues at every health check-up.  For example, it is important to discuss pregnancy prevention with adolescents.

In Teotitlan, Oportunidaes participants are also asked to take part in group exercise. I went running with the men’s group last Thursday, then we played a 60-minute soccer match (it was exhausting — I was the one who almost needed medical help when the game ended!)

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[Photo above left, Edd with Dr. Pablo, and right, with Norma Hawthorne]

Families who demonstrate their engagement with the Oportunidades programme then receive financial support from the government. The money is paid directly to the bank account of head of the household – effectively wiping out any diversion of funds.

What’s even more impressive is that the role of head-of-household is always delegated to a woman. Mexican research has shown that when a woman receives the money, she’s much more likely to spend it on her family and children – exactly those the programme is meant to support.

Oportunidades is a really impressive programme and the doctors tell me that it’s been successful at breaking the cycle of poverty. Like any large-scale initiative, it’s not perfect or infallible, but it’s one of the things which really impressed me with healthcare in Mexico.”

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[Public health messages throughout the town help educate people about health prevention, including dental care, diabetes, heart and respiratory illness, and more.]

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Edd Morris leaves Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, on June 18, 2014.  When he returns to London, he will begin work at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, London  which serves a diverse, low-income population.  He receives his official medical degree from St. Georges, University of London (www.sgul.ac.uk) in two weeks. Edd remarked about what a rich, meaningful and culturally diverse experience this has been to have a direct connection with the local population.  What he learned will help prepare him for the next step in his profession. From all accounts, everyone he has come in contact with has enjoyed knowing, working with and hosting him here.  When are you coming back? was a question I heard all day.

We are accepting applications for volunteers to serve in the public health clinic for 2014 and 2015.  You must be a student in a baccalaureate or masters degree program in the following fields: nursing, medicine, physician assistant, and be a Spanish speaker with at least one-year of university level language skills.  If you are interested, please contact us.

 

Oaxaca Clinic Receives Medical Equipment Gift

This week Federico Chavez Sosa and I made a visit to the Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca Centro de Salud (public health clinic) to present a gift of five stethoscopes to the clinic doctors.  The gift is from Dr. Deborah Morris, MD, PA-C, academic coordinator and the Methodist University Physicians Assistant Program in Fayetteville, NC.

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The Centro de Salud hosted two Methodist University physician assistant students, Ben and Megan, in summer 2013 for a one-month externship residency.  They reported that the doctors would benefit from better quality equipment and suggested that the stethoscopes would make an excellent contribution to improved quality of care.

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Of course, they asked the doctors first if they thought they would like to have new stethoscopes after the doctors admired the ones the students brought to use during their externship.

Federico made the presentation to clinic director, Doctora Elizabet, on behalf of the village as he ended his three-year community service commitment as one of three volunteer committee members to lead public health services, including water quality, sanitation, and community health.  This service, called a cargo, is a mutual support practice of Usos y Costumbres indigenous Mexican pueblos.

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We welcome university level nursing and physician assistant students to ask about participating in a summer residency.  Basic Spanish language is necessary.  Openings are available for summer 2014 and scheduling is flexible.  The cost includes lodging, two daily meals, facilitation, and a contribution to the clinic.  Please contact Norma Hawthorne if you are interested.

 

 

Student Physician Assistants Volunteer in Oaxaca Village Public Health Clinic

Two students enrolled in the Physician Assistant program at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina, will do a one-month volunteer clinical residency at the public health clinic in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, this summer.  Meagan Parsons and Benjamin Cook, who will both graduate in December 2013, land in Oaxaca next week!  Needless to say, they are excited.

And, we are grateful for their service.  They will work alongside local doctors, nurses, and other clinicians to support delivery of primary health care services to a rural and growing village of 8,000 people.

For those of you who don’t know, Physician Assistants (PA’s) are master’s degree prepared health care professionals who are trained to practice as part of a physician-led team.   This is usually a two-year program that includes a first year of classroom coursework followed by a second year of clinical rotations.

Nurse Practitioners (master’s prepared nurses who provide direct patient care) and PA’s are meeting the demands of our U.S. health care system, especially in underserved areas where there is a lack of adequate medical services.   Immigrant populations who speak Spanish and have cultural impressions of a health care system that hasn’t always provided access to quality treatment benefit from these professional services.  

Meagan Parsons, Benjamin Cook and Professor Deborah Morris, M.D., P.A.

Meagan Parsons, Benjamin Cook and Professor Deborah Morris, M.D., P.A.

Both Ben and Meagan speak Spanish and the experience will give them a chance to improve their language skills and learn more about how health care is delivered in rural Mexico.  What they learn will help them translate the experience to their own professional goals to work in rural North Carolina communities after they graduate.

Meagan graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009 with an undergraduate degree in biology and a minor in Spanish for health care professionals.  She worked as a nursing assistant in a pediatric surgical unit before she decided to go on for the P.A. degree.  This will be her first trip to Mexico and Meagan is eager for the immersion experience that she knows will give her a greater understanding for the emotional and cultural issues facing North Carolina’s immigrants.  When she graduates from Methodist, she plans to return to Rockingham County where she will practice in a small-scale rural community working with Spanish-speaking populations.

Ben Cook completed his undergraduate degree in human biology and Spanish from North Carolina State University in 2011.  He always wanted to pursue a medical career and he wanted more time to have a family and be involved with family life.  He feels that by becoming a P.A., he will have the best of both worlds.  He chose Methodist University because it has a high pass rate on the national certifying examination and there is a dedicated laboratory for student use.   Like most men who pursue a career in health care, Ben wants to go to work in either the Emergency Department or in Urgent Care where the fast-paced excitement prevails.  He feels the Oaxaca experience will give him better ways to connect with patients here in the U.S.

Deborah Morris, M.D., P.A., is the faculty member who supervises the cultural immersion program in Teotitlan del Valle for Methodist University.  She says this experience is essential for giving students a broader perspective of the world and the ways that health care is delivered in a system that is different than ours in the U.S. She says, There is a flow of people between Oaxaca and North Carolina.  It is helpful for students to have this experience to be more effective as P.A.’s.

For the village of Teotitlan del Valle, the students will trail and support the work of Mexican doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists and dentists.  They will start out doing basic health assessments and physical diagnosis, assist in giving innoculations, and update handwritten medical records.  As they get to know the population and their needs, they will develop a health education project with local participation and input, that can be used for continuing health care improvement.  The biggest health care issues in Oaxaca are women’s and children’s health, pre-natal care, diabetes and its prevention, and cancer treatment.

Meagan and Ben will overlap with UNC Chapel Hill School of Nursing student Leonora Tisdale who arrived to volunteer in the clinic in early June.  I am so gratified to be able to organize this experience that benefits the students, the people of Teotitlan del Valle, and people here in the U.S. who will be better served as a result of Leonora, Meagan and Ben’s immersion.

I work with universities to place students in the health professions for a volunteer experience in the Teotitlan del Valle public health clinic. Please contact me for more information.