The last two weeks, we have had an
amazing experience at the clinics surrounding San Feliz. Our clinic is in a small village called
Buenos Aires and serves about 2,000 residents in the area, as well as villagers
who walk for up to ten hours from the mountains just to get to the clinic. The clinic staff consists of two
doctors, a nurse, a nutritionist, a dentist, and a health promoter.
Panama as a country prides itself
the vaccination of its people.
This is very apparent in the setup of the local clinic. Upon registration every patients’
immunization record is checked by the nurse, and any missing immunizations or
vaccinations are given and signed off on their form before seeing the
doctor. In addition, nurses
also deliver vaccinations at health fairs in the community; as well as going
door to door among the houses and businesses to make sure that everybody is up
to date on their vaccinations, and if not their receive the shots on the spot.
There are also differences in the
scope of practice for Panamanian nurses, as they have a much wider scope
compared to nurses in the U.S.. For example, the other morning Kelsey and I
shared doing a pap smear on a young woman at the clinic. It was a personal experience for
everybody involved, and one that probably wouldn’t have happened in the United
States. Panamanian nursing
students are also required to deliver a certain amount of babies before
graduation, and can do so without the assistance of a doctor in the room!
Today we are headed up to the
mountain town of Boquete. We will
be doing some education with students at an orphanage on the way, and tonight
some of us will attempt to summit the Baru volcano. Let’s hope we all make it to the top!!!
-Chiara Stetson
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