University of Maryland Baltimore County Medical Brigade March 2015 Panama

Start Date: Mar 15, 2015 12:00 AM
End Date: Mar 21, 2015 12:00 AM

Medical: Global Brigades offers 7-9 day Medical Brigades throughout the year in Honduras, Panama and Nicaragua. During a Medical Brigade, volunteers have the opportunity to take vitals and patient history in triage, shadow licensed doctors in medical consultations, and assist in a pharmacy under the direction of licensed pharmacists. Each of our partner communities receives a brigade approximately twice a year. Between brigades, our in-country team maintains relationships with the communities to provide follow-up and to conduct Community Health Worker (CHW) trainings to empower local leaders to sustain a consistent level of healthcare. Electronic patient records are collected for future visitations and to monitor overall community health trends.

Dental: Global Brigades offers 7-9 day Dental Brigades throughout the year in Honduras, Panama and Nicaragua. Dental Brigade volunteers have the opportunity to shadow licensed dentists in urgent and preventive dental services in communities with limited access to healthcare. Dental Brigades also focuses on prevention with dental hygiene workshops. Each of our partner communities receives a brigade approximately twice a year. Electronic patient records are collected for future visitations and to monitor overall community health trends. A typical brigade structure includes three clinic days and a Holistic Model Day. This unique day allows for Medical/Dental brigaders to experience one of Honduras’ other programs: Architecture, Business, Engineering, Microfinance, Public Health or Water Brigades. Through these Holistic Model Days, volunteers are able to tackle non-health related issues that are often times the root cause of common illnesses seen on Medical and Dental Brigades. The main health concerns in our communities include diarrhea, respiratory illnesses, waterborne illnesses and abdominal pain.