Global education is at the heart of our program so it is no surprise that our students would relish the opportunity to embark on an international elective in South America.
Organised by Floating Doctors, a NGO created in 2010, the trip is based in and around the island of Bocas del Toro in Panama where the group visits and serves approximately 20 nearby islands and the indigenous population that inhabits them.
Dr. Anna Suessman (previously UQ-Ochsner Pediatric Clerkship Director) has worked with Floating Doctors since 2012 and has been the coordinator for the UQ-Ochsner cohort from recruiting the students to organising all aspects of logistics of the trip and travelling with them.
We sat down with students Carlos Santaolaya and Sarah Kelly to ask them about their experience travelling to Panama in November 2023 with a group of other medical students and Ochsner Health staff.
What motivated you to apply for this optional elective?
Carlos:
“I was motivated by a childhood dream to work as a doctor in an underserved community in Latin America. I was eager to take on this opportunity during my third year as I finally felt that I was far enough into my medical education that I could positively contribute to a community in need. This optional elective, which I learned about at the beginning of 3rd year, presented the perfect opportunity to fulfill this aspiration. The experience turned out to be even more fulfilling than I had imagined, as I had the chance to see and treat a wide variety of cases, immerse myself in the local culture, and even sleep in a hammock under the open sky during a multi-day clinic.”
Sarah:
“My motivations for embarking on this elective were my love for travel and my desire to contribute through volunteer community service.”
Can you tell us more about the structure of the trip and the logistics?
Carlos:
“I spent a total of three weeks in Panama, including a week spent exploring Panama City and Bocas del Toro with my partner before starting the two-week elective.
From New Orleans we made our way to Panama City, Panama where we flew out of a small regional airport to north of the country to a small island called Isla Colón, a small backpacker destination. A small boat then picked us up and took us about 15 minutes away to a larger, remote island where the Floating Doctors base was located, consisting of sleeping quarters, a kitchen/dining area, a meeting space, and an open-air pharmacy all operating on solar electricity, generators, and rainwater.
The base was surrounded by mangroves and our only connection to the outside world was an unstable WIFI connection (so you can imagine how hard it was to get our end of year grades during this trip)."
Sarah:
“To get to the villages where we set up clinics, we travelled via a large motorized "cayuco," a canoe carved out from a tree trunk. Some clinic locations were a 30-minute cayuco ride from our base camp, while other journeys on the cayuco were up to four hours long. For the more distant clinics, we stayed in the villages overnight and returned to base camp after two days of clinic. When we stayed in a village overnight, we slept in hammocks strung up in the clinic space and ate food prepared by the local residents.
We set up our clinics utilizing structures borrowed from the local communities, such as public meeting spaces and classrooms in the local schools. We travelled to each village with tables, chairs, and suitcases full of medical supplies and medications. We set up the tables and chairs in the space and prepared our medical supplies to create what we called "provider stations," where we would conduct our visits with each patient. Each provider station was equipped with basic medical examination tools such as a stethoscope, blood pressure monitor, thermometer, and blood sugar test kit. Each provider station had at least one medical provider and someone to act as a translator.
A Floating Doctors group returns to each village every three months, so many of the patients seen were follow-up visits from the previous clinic. Most of these patients are being managed for chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and chronic pain. We also treated many patients with acute complaints, such as injuries, rashes and infections. We treated multiple cases of leishmaniasis, a rare tropical disease, and many cases of parasitic worms. There were several pregnancy follow-ups and a few newly diagnosed pregnancies. There were also a few cases of malnutrition.
Most of the patients were residents living close to the clinic, but many patients travelled from other villages or even other islands to get to the clinic. The closest hospital to these villages is on the main island of Bocas del Toro, which would require a boat ride that most of the residents cannot afford. For the majority of these patients, the clinics set up by Floating Doctors are the only medical care they will ever receive.”
What were some of the highlights of this experience?
Carlos:
“Some highlights of this experience included the diverse clinical exposure, forming meaningful friendships with fellow volunteers, and being inspired by the leadership of Dr. Suessman. Additionally, the opportunity to spend time exploring Panama City and its surroundings with my partner before starting the elective added an extra layer of richness to the overall experience. “
Sarah:
“The highlights of this experience included the beauty of rural Panama and immersing myself in a new culture.”
Dr. Suessman is already planning the next trip later this year with the next group of students. To find out more, reach out to Carlos or Sarah who are the current student leaders (v-csantaolaya@ochsner.org or v-sarahkelly@ochsner.org).
