A powerful thing.

It's been a busy day so far.... the team saw 60 patients just this morning! Word of mouth is a powerful thing. It seems like news of the Duke team arriving has traveled fast -- which is pretty incredible. Students did basic health exams for adults and children and have started to distribute some of the donated supplies they brought with them from the US. The team took a short break and are pumped about starting a second round of clinic this afternoon.

First day of clinic

After setup of the clinic and a good night's sleep, the team of Duke nursing and medical students began their first day of clinic at 8am this morning. The team is excited to begin the work they came to do, to see the first patients coming in (by the truckloads), and doing some good for this rural community where few adults and children see a doctor regularly throughout the year.

They made it!

Team lead Dr. Dennis Clements was able to get cell reception to call from the mountains! The team made it safely to Las Mercedes and they are setting up the clinic tonight. They've brought with them tons of donated supplies and toiletries, including soaps and shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Clinic Day #1 is on the horizon.....

Along the way, a tour of a local hospital

On the road to their final destination in Las Mercedes, the team stopped to tour the local hospital in La Esperanza. So far the trip has been great and students are getting a taste of what health care delivery looks like in rural Honduras.

The team just got back on the bus (with all the health supplies and luggage loaded on top - pics to come! ) to finish the trip to Las Mercedes, which is about one more hour. Students will start seeing patients later today or tomorrow.

Honoring 20 years of service

Last night, Dr. Dennis Clements and the rest of the team were joined by Honduran partners to honor Reynaldo Aponte for his service. Aponte has been traveling to Honduras to collaborate with the locals and provide health care for the past 20 years. Reynaldo accepted the award from the president of Heifer Honduras. It is dedicated people like Reynaldo who are making an impact in the world and changing lives.

Today, the team is traveling into the mountains from Tegucigalpa to Las Mercedes, where they will work in the clinic --- the health facility was a dire need for the rural community where people typically did not see a doctor because the closest facility was hours away by foot and couldn't afford to dedicate a whole day to make the trip. The clinic was spearheaded by leaders of the Exploring Medicine group including Dr. Clements, others at Duke, and Honduran partners.

The students are looking forward to their first day of clinic!

The team has arrived

The team has safely landed in Tegucigalpa! Beinvenidos a Honduras! The team will have a celebration for Reynaldo tonight --- for his 20 years of service in Honduras. Tomorrow, the team will be driving up into the mountains and could start clinic as early as tomorrow night.

In the meantime, check out the experiences of the 2013 Exploring Medicine team.

RDU airport

At RDU airport waiting to depart for 10 days in Honduras.  Arrived at 4:30am

It is a rainy Sunday - 3 days before we depart.  The packing day went well on Saturday - Reynaldo has photos.  The bagels and coffee kept us awake long enough to pack about 20 bags of medicines and supplies for the trip.  We will be donating $1000 for eco-stoves for the community and we will of course be seeing patients every day from up to 11 villages around Las Mercedes where we built a clinic a few years back.  We understand that the clinic is staffed all the time now - which is exciting and we are looking forward to seeing how it is working out.  We are an additional resource to the local people - not THE resource.  And we hope to leave behind both our spirit and our support for their community and their people.  Las Mercedes here we come.

Dennis

Welcome To Exploring Medicine 2014

The purpose of the course Exploring Medicine is to promote understanding of  the cultural background of the people of Honduras and how that impacts the delivery of medical care. Throughout the semester, topics were discussed to facilitate understanding of how art, history, literature, music, geography, ethics and religion influence the practice of medicine in the Latin American culture. The classes provides a multidisciplinary faculty from Duke and UNC and included time working on medical Spanish to improve the understanding of the culture and facilitate encounters and interactions with Hispanic patients in our own environment. The trip focuses on areas of rural Honduras and provides global outreach through Duke Global Medicine.  Join in following us during out trip!!

Dawn Kennedy