I will be part of her medical team traveling to underserved areas in the Philippines to provide basic primary care services to those who might otherwise not have access to healthcare. We will be traveling around to different locations to meet with and evaluate patients of all ages and will assist with getting them connected to community resources for continued care after our departure.
The population that we will be serving are those in more remote or underserved areas of the Philippines. This population may benefit from our project because we are bringing primary care services to them to increase their access to healthcare. There are also a large amount of medically complex and undertreated conditions within this patient population, so our group will be the first line care in order to get them connected with the greater health care system in their country.
I expect this project to impact me in many ways. This project will allow me to enhance my medical diagnostic skills by adapting to healthcare environments with limited diagnostic tools and personnel. I also will be able to learn from local healthcare providers about culturally appropriate care delivery and be able to engage more respectfully with patients from diverse backgrounds. This project will also help me gain a deeper understanding of how chronic diseases affect diverse populations and be able to apply these insights to enhance the management and delivery of care for similar conditions within my current clinical practice.
Having the opportunity to spend two weeks in the Philippines serving many underserved communities made such an impact on me and my outlook on medicine. I was able to work with a team to staff 8 clinics in neighborhoods that had very poor access to healthcare. As a primary care provider, I was one of 4 physicians seeing patients for whatever chief complaint they may have had that day. Our clinic was also staffed with many supporting resources as well. We had a fully stocked pharmacy, point of care lab services, point of care ultrasound capabilities, PT/OT, and eye exams for reading glasses. Working closely with an individual interpreter, I was able to see an average of ~20 patients per clinic day. In all, our team was able to conduct a total of ~1000 patient encounters over our two week mission. It was such a blessing to be able to meet and talk with so many patients and their families to learn more about not only their health concerns, but who they are on a more personal level. It was eye opening to see just how welcoming and appreciative the patients were to our team and their gratitude did not go unnoticed. I look forward to when I can have another opportunity to serve on a medical mission again in the future, but until then I will use the skills, knowledge, and experience gained from this amazing experience in my current PCP practice here in The United States.
