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Feature of the Month

International and Appalachian Outreach

 

VCOM News - Feature Story

VCOM Spends a Holiday Helping Others in Honduras

hat better way to spend the Thanksgiving holiday than sharing your skills and talents with others?  This was the Thanksgiving experience for more than 50 VCOM students, faculty, staff and friends who participated in a Flood Relief mission trip to Honduras from Friday, November 21st through Friday, November 28th.  The team, comprised of 35 1st and 2nd year VCOM students, 3 3rd year students, 4 Virginia Tech Students, 2 High School Students and 11 faculty and staff, provided much needed medical care, compassion, and a listening ear to more than 1,100 patients. 

Each day the team visited a different, remote village where access to medical care is often non-existent and may require long journeys on foot or horseback for hours at a time.  During the second day of their trip, the team visited the small, very rural mountainous community of Guajire, Lepaterique.  Working out of a makeshift school house with only three walls and no roof while the wind whipped around, the students really got to experience what life is like for these people on a daily basis.  The sand and dirt were everywhere, but the students, faculty and staff continued to deliver care with a smile, helping those most in need to get the care, clothing and the food that they needed to make it through at least one more day in these harsh conditions.

On Wednesday, students visited a school house approximately 3 hours from the capital city of Tegucigalpa, providing care to more than 150 patients.  Working alongside physicians, students had the opportunity to put their classroom skills into action, taking patient histories and completing physicals, working together in teams to arrive at a diagnosis and then helping to provide OMT and other appropriate treatments.  This was truly mission medicine at its finest.

Estimates of those served during the 6 days include over 1100 medical care visits, 200 dental consults averaging 22 extractions per village, and 300 optometry consults with glasses provided to most either at the VCOM Clinic or the field site.  The team also distributed over 700 bags of rice and an equal number of bags of beans, along with donated clothing.  It was amazing to see the efficiency gained with each passing day and to see the growth in each participant from physician to field doctor.

More Missions Planned

VCOM is planning an additional 5 mission trips this year to continue serving those most in need and building on VCOM’s mission of sustainable care.  VCOM students are learning the true meaning of compassionate care through personal experience that will no doubt become part of their practice as medical doctors regardless of where they serve.

  • February 7-14: Pediatrics Mission in El Salvador –
    Focus on orphanages and remote villages
  • February 15-22: OB/GYN Mission in Dominican Republic –
    Focus on impoverished community womens health and public health education of youth
  • May 2-9:
    • Faith-Based trip in Dominican Republic
    • Surgery in El Salvador
    • General Medicine trip to Honduras

The VCOM Global Health Experience

VCOM is quickly becoming a leader in Global Health. Through international experiences, our students are gaining the skills and knowledge needed to deliver care in an expanding multicultural society, and to partner with patients to improve health in the mind, body and spirit. VCOM travels the globe applying the philosophy of Osteopathic Medicine to improve the health of underserved populations and preserve the environment.

Student Reflections: find out what VCOM students experienced in their medical missions. arrow