House Visits and Clinc Time: January 5th, 6th, and 7th

The first day of clinical was spent going house to house assessing the people and their environment, and asking if anyone was sick and needed to see the doctors in the clinic during the next two days. Many of the houses were made from metal paneling and wood. Many of the houses had dirt flooring or chunks of cement foundation. The houses were on top of each other, and multiple people live in the homes with one to two rooms. We handed out tickets to families that needed to see the doctors at the clinic. Not all, but most of the people who had tickets came to the clinic the next two days where we triaged them for the doctors’ assessment and diagnosis. The clinic isn’t the type of clinic we would see in the United States. It was a small, one room church that we turned into four triage rooms and a small procedure room with curtains. We met some very kind and appreciative community members. Although there is a hospital down the road, many of the community members don’t have insurance or the means to get to the hospital or other clinics for care. With us being here, they were able to get some of the care they needed. During our free time during the days at the clinic, we spent our time outside trying to talk with the locals in Spanish and English, although the language barrier was apparent. After the first clinic day, we went out for ice cream since it had been a very hot day in the small room. Our days at the clinic were finished with dinner out in the town and then learning some Costa Rican dances.


Adrienne, Annick, D.J, and Kim