Health Fair with AMSA- April 18, 2015
I joined AMSA (American Medical Student Association) a week ago with the intention of getting involved in one particular event-the health fair. This weekend, medical students and veterinary students traveled to the most norther part of the island to put on a health fair for the Grenadian people and their pets. It was a great experience!
I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep before waking up to catch a bus and head out to the town of St. Patrick's. I soon forgot about how tired I was as I took in the atmosphere around me. The fair took place at a school that was very old and very european in character. Gorgeous in a rugged and historic way. AMSA set up station outside under a large tent with tables for intake of patients, history, review of systems, blood pressure and vitals, blood sugar readings, vision and hearing testing and then they were passed along to the doctors in the school. Up until this point, my medical exposure has always been in clean clinics and hospitals -or at least "modern" buildings with separate patient rooms and a variety of medical tech equipment. It is safe to say that this fair was run by people and brains and even though technology has a necessary component in the field of medicine, not one computer-besides our smart phones- which don't work anyhow, was within the premises.
I loved talking with the people-I spoke one on one with men and women from 20 years to 89 years of age and one 17 year old boy. The pediatric cases were triaged to the pediatric club. Most of the complaints I encountered were mainly centered around vision problems, diabetes, hypertension and sexually transmitted diseases-in that order. I had to quickly learn to ask the patients if they had "problems with sugar or pressure" as many would say they had no diseases but take medication for "sugar or pressure." It was interesting at how honest the patients were I talked with about their alcohol use, sexual activity and psychiatric health (these were all parts of our history taking) because when I documented histories back home-it felt like people were not usually upfront with these particular topics. Yesterday, I learned that it's not uncommon to start having kids when you are young as a Grenadian and then subsequently have 7, 11 or more kids. When asking women about pap smears and breast exams, they looked at me as though I spoke another language; yet when I asked about having received STD testing, the majority had undergone these and many times over their life. I talked with patients who were more concerned with their vision problems than they were with the potential of having a STD. Which makes sense if you think about it-vision directly affects their everyday lives. However, they had many partners and the majority don't use any form of protection. It was just interesting to me-but also sad. I think preventative medicine would be beneficial to the island. I alternated between many of the stations, sometimes just staying with my particular patient at that time and moving with them to each station where I proceeded to perform each test/exam. I cannot remember how many patients we saw-but it was in the hundreds. It was amazing-at one point I was sitting next to a young Grenadian teenager under the tent and the rain was falling just inches from us and his mom was undergoing an exam as well while their dogs and goats were feet away from us being examined simultaneously. I still don't know a word to describe that feeling. If you could see my face right now, I am still sifting through my thoughts of the entire day.
It was sunny, HOT and humid all day-besides that moment of rain-but I really enjoyed myself. I was able to practice communicating with people and that was my favorite part-talking to them and observing them. All in all, it was a good motivator to study and learn. I came home TIRED-but in a really good way-and I proceeded to study for the remainder of the night with those memories in the back of my mind.
Lastly, God's plans are far greater than mine. I don't give Him enough credit. It is all because of Him that I have been blessed with these opportunities and I just pray that my faith-which often feels like the size of a mustarded- is enough to keep pushing forward.
-M.H-
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