Visiting Faculty
Visiting Faculty Mentors
The Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois sponsors the Primary Care Elective for 4th year medical students through the Department of Family Medicine. The one month elective is offered on an annually from January 1 through June 1.
All Board Certified Primary Care Physicians and other physicians who are interested in mentoring 4th year medical students for a period of 2 to 4 weeks are encouraged to apply.
Ideally faculty would be most effective in committing for the 4 weeks elective. Shared 2 weeks sessions can be arranged.
Fluency in Spanish is extremely helpful as most of the primary care involves history and physical exams for Spanish speaking patients. Translation from Spanish to Q’eqchi is available through a multilingual health promoter or lay mission helper.
Applicants are responsible for providing their own airfare. The expenses which are covered by the program are the following: housing, food, and transportation.
The weekly schedule (specified under Schedule) includes local clinic visits, day and overnight village visits, visits to local health promoter clinics and visits to the National Hospital.
The weekend schedule is available for travel to local Mayan ruins, such as Tikal, or 2 day stays in Belize or the highlands of Guatemala.
The temperatures average above 90 degrees F and the humidity is high. Sun block and insect repellent are a must. Plasmodium Vivax is prevalent and weekly chloroquine prophylaxis is recommended.
The visiting faculty mentor has a fully furnished detached studio apartment with air conditioning and ceiling fans.The other amenities are cable television, broadband internet access, housekeeping and laundry service.
The mentoring program is an ideal opportunity for faculty to learn and participate in Tropical Medicine, to share their knowledge with enthusiastic medical students, to experience the culture and warmth of the Guatemalan people, to brush up on their Spanish skills and to have a working vacation distant from the cold winter.
Challenges for Volunteer Doctors
- How do they get to Candelaria, Parroquia, the Church in San Francisco, Las Cruces, Deloris(Centro de Recup Nut), clinical lab? Transportation is provided by Abraham Tejeda. The students and docs have really enjoyed Abraham – he lives 3 blocks from the Mission Hous, he is always prompt, he loves to share stories of Guatemala.
- Where do they buy gas for the truck? The easiest and cheapest place to buy gas for the truck is the station close to the airport. Credit cards are accepted for purchase and a free car wash is included. There is also a Shell station 1 km from the house.
- Do they have a telephone provided with minutes? A cell phone is avaialble for the volunteer doc. Phone cards which provide additional minutes are available at any local tienda.
- Whom do they call if the truck breaks down? The Nissan truck is repaired by Nazzar. His phone number is 5537-7327.
- Should they carry their passport with them? It is best to lock your passport in the safe and to carry a copy of your passport with you at all times.
- How much money, in cash and for the program, should they carry? Each Volunteer should have $300 cash available for the 1 month elective. Debit cards work at any local ATM – or “5B”.
- What are they going to be doing for lunch at each place? Lunch in the villages is with a local family. It is safe to eat and consists of beans and tortillas.
- Do they interrupt the jornada for lunch? Lunchtime during a jornada is at 12:30 – 1:00 p.m.
- If lunch is provided by the aldea, what advice do they get about what to eat/not eat? The beans, tortillas and chicken soups are well prepared and safe. Students should carry their own drinking waerr.
- Should they be advised to always plan to be back to San Benito by dark? Students should always be back in tghe San Benito area before dark. For any evening out in Flores, students can ask Abraham for transportation. 5064-2902
- How will they communicate with staff, patients, family? Are they comfortable alone and in Spanish? How about with the patients? Who specifically will translate for the indigenous people ? Students work in the villages in pairs – those who are more fluent in Spanish are paired with those who are less fluent. We have 3 health promoters who can translate from Q’eqchi to Spanish.
- Who will inventory and restock the med/supplies box after each jornada? The students are responsible for stocking the med supplies prior to and after each jornada. A list of needed meds and prices is available in the med room.
- Who will check on the inventory on hand and order additional in the closet in the main house? Aurelia is responsible for ordering additional meds. Please give Aurelia adequate time to order more meds if we are getting low. Meds can be ordered and picked up the same day by calling Aura at the Dispensario – 5135-2698
- Who will make sure the doctor leaves the first day with some change to use for charges for meds/tests? Aurelia will provide the students going out for the jornada with 200 quetzales in small change. At the end of the jornada the students should give all the cash received to Aurelia.
- Who does the doctor tell/notify when drugs are lacking in the box? How? A list of needed meds should be given to Aurelia. If meds are needed urgently they can be ordered and received from 8 am – 12:30 pm at the Dispensario. Aura will give you the bill for the meds – 5135-2698
- Who will advise the doctor on resources available and how? Such as, ultrasounds, lab tests, transportation money for patient and family, specialty consults, malaria tests and meds? Transportation for patients is via Mitch
- Tolb ert. Other consults such as Ultrasounds, and specialty consults are available at the National Hospital, the Dispensario and Tikal Lab .
- Who can the doctor call while on site (when has service) with questions about care process? The accomanying health promoter or Mitch is available to answer on-site questions regarding patient care.
- Who will confirm that the aldea has been notified ahead of time of the jornada’s coming? How many times to verify? The health promoters and Mitch have the on-going jornada schedule. It is best to verify the schedule the day prior to the jornada – as in things change on a moment to moment basis in Guatemala.
- Who is responsible for making blank copies of the patient record? Where are they stored? The students are responsible for making copies of the patient encounter sheets. All information regarding jornadas, meds and patient visits is stored in the med room.
- When needed, who will print up the labels for meds to be dispensed and put them in clear plastic bags and seal them? The students are responsible for counting and labeling the meds. Pre-printed labels are on the computer desktop. Handwritten labels are also adequate.
- Who will teach the physicians how to input wanted patient specific data in the ACT system on the computer? Who will teach the students? Instructions for the patient database ACT is on the computer desktop. It is anticipated that students will keep a log of all patients seen in the jornadas and enter this into the patient database.
- Who will advise the doctors of CDC recommendations re malaria prevention and others? Malaria provention for the Peten is as follows: Begin Chloroquine 500 mg. 1 week prior to arrival, continue 1 time per week during visit, with a final dose 1 week after departure.
- Who tells the doctor of the expected weather and clothing, shoe types to bring? The ambient temperature is 80-95 degrees with high humidity. Daily dress is casual with comfortable tennis shoes. Shorts are appropriate only for times of recreation.
- Should the doctor be given the option of checking flight costs into Belize, then to Flores via air or bus versus the costs in Guatemala City and on to Flores? Who will communicate this and how? Weekend travel opportunities are available through San Jose Travel, the Linea Dorado Bus Line and TACA Airlines. Travel books on Mexico, Guatemala and Central America are available at the Mission House.
- Who will give the doctor a tour of the National Hospital, Centro de Salud, Dispensario (Caritas), Asilio de Ancianos, etc. Abraham or a similar designated driver is responsible for the orientation tour.
- Who will take the students to/from Spanish classes? Who will show the doctor? Abraham or a similar designated driver is responsible for taking the students to/from Spanish classes. The transportation covered by the program includes the orientation tour, transportation to clinical sites, transportation to Spanish classes. Other transportation which the student may desire – such as to the mercado, Maxi Bodega or Flores may be arranged and paid for by the student.
Applications for the 2010 program are currently being accepted. Please contact Dr. Linda Novak MD.
General Medical Elective Costs
Application Fee:
Program Fee:
Accommodation and Meals:
All fees apply to a 4 week program. Within 4 weeks applicants will be notified. The final balance is due 8 weeks prior to the date the program begins. Group rates are available
Included:
- Orientation Materials
- Airport transport in Flores upon arrival and departure
- Orientation to the program
- Transportation to service sites
- Coordinator Fees
- Medical and Licensing Fees
- All clinical preceptor and hospital fees
- Accommodation and meals
Excluded:
- Transportation to and from Peten
- Passport and visa fees
- Expenses of a personal nature
- International Health and Evacuation Insurance
*Health and Evacuation insurance is a requirement for attending the program.
*Individualized Spanish language training is available and can be arranged prior to arrival
