This medical mission trip involves going to Belize to help in a medically underserved rural community. The focus is on Women's health and access to care for women in the Cayo District of Belize. There are two different provider opportunities, including an urgent care setting and a labor and delivery setting in which I would be providing care. There is also a community outreach setting, where we go to a local school and talk about health related issues/preventative health to the student. I believe this trip will impact the local community by providing access to high quality healthcare in an otherwise underserved area. I also believe it will make an impact with me personally and allow me to understand how well we have it with access to healthcare in the US.
The local community of the Cayo District, specifically the women in this area, will be most impacted by this trip. We will be working directly with women to provide access to prenatal services, labor and delivery, postpartum services, and general healthcare overall. I believe the activity related to talking with the local school children will allow them to better understand and care about their health overall and preventative measures to improve overall quality of life. This population was selected specifically because of a gap in care for the women of the Cayo district as it is a rural community mostly dedicated to farming and agriculture. I do believe, however, that this will translate to the community as a whole.
As described earlier, I believe we are giving access to care to a much needed population. I believe in some other countries, women health is not emphasized as in the US. I believe that we can make a difference in these women's lives by providing this care for them. This trip will humble me in terms of how well we have it in the US with access to healthcare. I also believe it will humble me in general, with our easy access to safe environment, food, shelter, and water that may not be available in these rural areas due to location and possible poverty status. I am really looking forward to this trip and would live the support of the Doximity foundation.
My trip to Belize involved working in a community named "St. Margaret's Village". This is a refuge village of individuals escaping hardship/violence in the surrounding countries. This is a highly impoverished area. The group I traveled to Belize with was able to provide basic medical care to the people of this village, where access to medical care is very slim. I was also impacted by these people as this trip was very humbling and allowed me to see things that I sometimes take for granted that others do not have access to.
