The University of Colorado's Global Medical Brigade听helps develop sustainable health initiatives and provides relief where access to healthcare is limited. 听During each program, students embark on daily brigades to a number of isolated villages throughout Honduras, Panama听or听Nicaragua to set up temporary medical clinics. 听Our听temporary medical clinics consist of a triage, consultation, charla and pharmacy station. 听Patients are transitioned throughout these student-run and/or student-supervised stations similar to a traditional hospital.听 Below is an example of a mock听itinerary for a medical brigade and a more in-depth breakdown of a medical clinic.
Anatomy of the Medical Brigade
Intake is the first stop for patients. 听Here basic information is taken down: name, community, age听and sex. 听Usually one or two community members help us run the intake process. 听Part of Global Brigades holistic model of developing sustainable communities involves empowering community members. 听By working along side these community members in the medical clinic, we greatly speed听up intake听but also help create community leaders.
The triage station follows intake. 听Here students communicate in Spanish with patients, and record information such as family history, allergies, current medications and their primary complaint. 听Students also take patients vital signs: temperature, blood pressure, respirations, heart rate, height and weight. 听Many of our members do not speak Spanish fluently or even conversationally, so don't be scared of a little Spanish! 听Although there is a language barrier, we have developed methods with the help of community members to quickly and accurately record needed information. 听Many students who first feared triage found it to be one of the more interesting and fun stations!
Charla can be seen as the most important part of the clinic because rather than treating acute ailments, we are teaching community members how to live better lifestyles and live healthier.听Here students educate community members and engage children with material they have compiled over the second half of the academic year. 听This station is always a huge hit because of the ability to play with all the kids! 听Depending on the organization of the building听we are able to hold our clinic in, charla can take place at any part of the clinic.听
After patients have been triaged, they are shuttled into consultation rooms to see听a听physician. Each medical brigade is responsible for bringing their own physicians, who are to be accompanied by a in-country physician for liability purposes. 听Because undergraduate students do not have an M.D., we let the doctors do most of the work!听听However, at this station, students are able to shadow doctors and obtain experiences that are unheard of in America.听This station gives a snapshot of the health ailments and environmental factors that community members endure every day. 听Doctors diagnose and prescribe medications accordingly and send the patients to pharmacy.
Pharmacy is the last station. 听Here patients come with their patient-sheets, which they have had for the entirety of their trip through the clinic, to show the students which medications they need. 听Students are in charge听of filling the prescriptions. 听All of the students' work is checked by certified pharmacists to ensure the correct dosage and medicine has been used. 听Pharmacy offers a great opportunity to learn what lots of different types of medicines do! 听After the patients receive their medication, they are read the prescription to bypass any chance of illiteracy. 听Finally, the patient is well and returning home. 听Once the clinic has closed, we compile all of the patient sheets and begin entering them into Global Brigade's database.