Day 3: Placencia Community Center

Julia Tao
After breakfast at the Shak, we walked to the Placencia Community Center to set up. Instead of the wait numbers today, we used the new system. My team was assigned to be in Station 2 following the doctors today, but I helped with intake because there are fewer people at the Placencia clinic than at the other clinics, so the doctors didn't have as many patients. During lunch, everyone drank seaweed shakes made with locally grown seaweed and fruits. Because there were not many patients, I had some free time, so I taught the younger children (Aria and Addyson) how to use the blood pressure cuff. I used my arm as an example, and my blood pressure was 146/96, which indicated that I had high blood pressure. I also had a heart rate of 110. (This was actually because of drinking the espresso coffee seaweed shake!)
​Later on in the day, there was a case of appendicitis, where the man had had pain in his lower right abdomen for 3-4 days. Because it was a serious case, he had to get the hospital as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the only way to get there was by boat, so it was quite a struggle to find one for this man. This would probably one of the most difficult parts of the mission thus far. Another patient came in in a wheelchair, as she had been born without legs. She explained that her mother had malaria when she was pregnant, but she didn't know that she was pregnant at the time. The mother went to the doctor who prescribed her malaria medication; however, this caused the baby to not form properly and the baby ended up not having legs. From these two cases and others from the day before, I saw just how crucial proper medical care in Belize was, and I am really glad that our team is able to help the lives of these precious people here.

Matt Cheng
Today, we stayed at Placencia and went to the community center to help out the people of Placencia. When I was there, I shadowed my mom, the doctor and learned how to perform medical exams to make diagnoses. The highlight of the day is when a patient walked in with right lower quadrant abdominal pain for three days. The exam showed positive rebound tenderness. Jackie, a nurse, and I took the patient diagnosed with appendicitis to Independence where an ambulance took him to the hospital. If we took a car, it would have taken several hours just to get to the hospital. In the middle of the boat ride, it broke down because the engine ran low on gas, so we got onto another fisherman’s boat in which they took us to the mainland. I stayed calm and gave him my sunglasses

Ethan Nguyen
Today the dentist had come to help see patients. This day was not as hectic as the first day but it was still a pretty hard day. Since we were in a much smaller room, the heat was very high. I started to help out with the pharmacy station and it was more crazy than intake which was not what I was expecting. I also got to meet a doctor, who was one of the 300 doctors in Belize. Compared to countries like the U.S., Belize does not have as many people as you think. The Population of Belize is around 300,000 people which only under 300 are doctors. After the day was over we relaxed and had the rest of the day off.

Jacqueline Duong
Before attending this trip to Belize, I had a very limited knowledge of the type of impact that a high school student like me could have on a person. I’ve always wanted to become a doctor because it’s what is expected of kids like me these days, but after the trip, I have a newfound respect and passion for medicine.
I have never been anywhere away from home that wasn’t for a vacation, so the more humble living conditions played a vital role in my experience in Belize. I never realized how blessed and lucky I was to have what I have and live the kind of life that I did, even before the first day of clinic.
On the first day of clinic, I worked at the pharmacy station, and I quickly realized that a lot of people had similar issues - pain, allergies, diabetes, etc. I understood the importance of pharmacists, as medication is often key for treating illness and such, but at that point, I didn’t quite feel any personal impact that I had towards the patients.

Alex Duong
As a high school student, I never had much medical experience prior to going to my first overseas clinical experience in Belize. My dad is a doctor of internal medicine, and I know several other doctors who are relatives and friends. Despite this, I never really knew that much about the medical process. All I knew was that I wanted to be a doctor and that I wanted to save lives.
​Upon arriving in Placencia, I immediately saw the huge disrepancy of a developing country against the advancements of the United States. People lived very simple lives, and most people were satisfied with low wages without many wants. Since we came one day late, my family and I missed the first clinic in Independence, and I really had no idea of what to expect in my first clinic in Placencia.
​The first clinic for me on the trip was in Placencia, and it could not have been a better and more educating experience than I dreamed of. On my first day, my team was assigned to patient intake and vital signs. From the onset, Belizean patients flowed in to see doctors and the dentist, and we were the first stage to pass in the hot tropical weather. We talked to each patient and received basic information such as their name and their family’s basic medical history. However, I also was able to practice with equipment and tools in order to check vitals to blood pressure. Even after only seeing a few patients, I saw a general trend that developed. People didn’t know what mold or chemicals were, and there was a developing pattern of people who had back pain and headaches. These patterns helped to open my eyes and taught me about the difficulties that people in countries such as Belize had to face. Even though they lived relatively simple lives, many still worked strenuous jobs and did not have proper healthcare. Since workers earned low wages, doctors and dentists were often too expensive and proper medicine often was not always available.