TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 5 9 don't have to be screened for insurance, you don't have to use computer systems to send the prescriptions off or do refer- rals," said Johnson. "It's a little like the way medicine used to be practiced." Fiona Strasserking, a fourth-year medical student at UTHealth who traveled to Guatemala for the first time this year, said the trip offered the kind of education that can't be found in the classroom or a traditional American hospital. Strasserking is no stranger to health care disparities, having grown up in Sierra Leone; however she was still surprised by her trip to the remote villages of Guatemala. "Given where Guatemala is, central America, and the fact that the Americas are more economically stable than Africa, I was actually surprised that Guatemala and the people we saw there were worse off than I would have expected for this part of the world," she said. "Better than Africa, but worse than my expectation of the Americas." Like Johnson, Strasserking's experiences in areas that lack basic health care inspired her to become a physician. She recalled the childhood friend who died of rabies from a dog bite because she did not have access to treatment, as well as a physician mentor who succumbed to the Ebola virus. "Health care is one of the basics of human life that should not be bargained because somebody doesn't have money or doesn't have the resources," she said. "It should be something that everybody is entitled to." Trips such as this one are invalu- able for medical students, Strasserking added, opening their eyes to lives so different from their own. All medical students are directly supervised by licensed physicians, but still have the opportunity to be very involved in the process. "It's humbling and it gives you perspective on the rest of the world. The vast majority of the world, this is how they live, this is how they survive," she said. "We have so much in the United States, so we take so much for granted here." Hardwicke echoed those senti- ments, saying the trips have the power to "ground" participants, helping them realize how fortunate they are. "We take medical students and residents with us, and I love to have that opportunity to teach the young people in a setting that is so vastly different from our own in the U.S.," she said. "We also take college students with us and to be able to watch them learn and watch them recognize the problems of the world, there's nothing else like it." Hardwicke is determined to train her replacement. She is in search of that particular individual on a daily basis, and said she knows it will take many years to get that person trained in the same way that she was by Johnson. "Bringing the value of humanity into a student's life is invaluable," she said. Taking students and residents on the trip also has the added benefit of bringing fresh eyes to a routine that has become familiar to veterans like Johnson and Hardwicke. In fact, Hardwicke recalled Strasserking noting a piece of equipment that could be helpful on future trips—a probe that would enable them to more accurately screen for heart defects. "The OB-GYN clinic had a perfect machine with both the 2-D black and white pictures and color capability, and everything else that we'd need for an echocardiogram," Strasserking explained, "but they didn't have the probe that you'd attach to it to look at the heart." The team has taken note of Strasserking's suggestion, and will hopefully have the means to bring the cardiac probe to use on future trips. "That's something I would never have known or thought of," Hardwicke said. By the end of the week, the team had filled over 6,500 prescriptions, treated 432 people for dental pain, and given away 400 pairs of reading glasses and close to 1,000 pairs of sunglasses, crucial for many of the patients who spend hours laboring under the blazing sun. But the team did not leave empty-handed. Stefano Sdringola, M.D., professor of cardiovascular medicine and the Weatherhead Distinguished Chair of Heart Disease at UTHealth, traveled to Guatemala for the first time and said his experiences during that week will stick with him going forward. Once he retires, he plans to spend his life taking similar trips. "There is a feeling of joy and happiness that comes from giving ourselves to others," said Sdringola, who traveled with his teenage daughter, a college student planning to study medicine. "It's a great teaching experi- ence and we can receive more than we can give to them." Stefano Sdringola, M.D., speaks with a patient in the clinic BY THE END OF THE WEEK, THE TEAM HAD FILLED OVER 6,500 PRESCRIPTIONS, TREATED 432 PEOPLE FOR DENTAL PAIN, AND GIVEN AWAY 400 PAIRS OF READING GLASSES AND CLOSE TO 1,000 PAIRS OF SUNGLASSES, CRUCIAL FOR MANY OF THE PATIENTS WHO SPEND HOURS LABORING UNDER THE BLAZING SUN.

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