Students give their Honduras medical experiences glowing reviews

“I can say that this was one of the best experiences of my life.”

That’s how one student summarizes the time serving on brigades that provided much-need medical care in rural Honduras during the J-Term.

But it could easily be attributed to the 11 other students enrolled in INED 313: Honduras Health Care who described – in vivid detail through PowerPoint slides – to a large audience in the Kelly Family Auditorium what it was like to see how basic health care is administered in the Central American country’s rural villages.

The SUNY Fredonia contingent – led by SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Ted Lee – assisted Honduran and American medical teams by serving at medical brigade stations, in four different villages, that processed 550 patients in four days. Each brigade station had a specific function, such as taking vitals before the patient is seen by a physician or dispensing medicine following an examination.

“Dr. Omar [Posas] taught me how to hear the patient’s heartbeat, lungs and vocal cords. He also let me take blood pressures and having him get the same blood pressures that I did was pretty amazing.” - Mia Piede

Gaining hands-on experience in medicine, learning about a vastly different culture and engaging in an exceptional volunteer opportunity were among key takeaways of this experience for the students, many of whom want to work in the medical field.

For Mia Piede, a sophomore from Dunkirk majoring in Biology and Psychology, with a minor in Chemistry, it was not a “what” but a “who” that sparked her interest in the Honduras experience.

Like many students, she was introduced to the program in class discussions led by Dr. Lee, who has also brought alumni back to his classes to reflect on their own medical brigade service as Fredonia students. Lee has been to Honduras eight times.

Of the four brigade functions, Ms. Piede found shadowing a Honduran doctor to be all encompassing. “Dr. Omar (Posas) taught me how to hear the patient’s heartbeat, lungs and vocal cords. He also let me take blood pressures and having him get the same blood pressures that I did was pretty amazing. His constant encouragement and patience with me, as well as being able to see his care toward his patients, has truly stuck with me,” she said.

The Honduras experience has compelled Piede toward a future in medicine. “Shadowing Dr. Omar and Dr. Sindy [Lazo] sparked the passion in my heart that I have for being able to care for people in a medical setting and I am inspired to participate in more brigades in Honduras in my future.”

Isabella Trifilo, a junior from Amherst, N.Y., is majoring in Biology because she’s seeking a career that involves helping people. “My freshman year of college here at Fredonia I learned about Dr. Lee’s previous experiences traveling to Honduras through an introductory biology course with Dr. Lee himself. After learning about his time (there), I knew it was something I would love to do,” said Ms. Trifilo, who also has a minor in Spanish.

“When I first started working on this project with Dr. Lee, I was just analyzing samples that he brought back, so I didn’t have the personal connection that I have now. I plan on continuing this research throughout my time in Fredonia, because of the potential impact of the project.”- Delanie Tunstall

Interacting with children at Sociedad Amigos de los Niños was Trifilo’s favorite part of the experience. “Having the opportunity to interact and build relationships with such amazing children even with a language barrier was one of the most amazing experiences of my life,” she said.

“Having the opportunity to experience a different culture was one of the most eye-opening opportunities,” Trifilo recalled. She found Hondurans to be extremely grateful to the Fredonia group for helping their country. Participating in another medical mission is on her to-do list after completing graduate school.

Isabella Surma loves to travel – she’s visited Rome and Paris – but has never been in Central America. “I also wanted to be able to see Honduras, a third world country, and understand what the people there experience. This also was a great volunteer experience and a way to get hands-on practice in the medical field,” the senior Biology major from Dunkirk said.

Students’ initial contact with residents was at intake, the first station, where basic information about each patient is collected. A few students knew Spanish so they could converse with patients, but there were also Honduran interpreters available to assist.

At vitals, the second station, students took and recorded body temperature, pulse, blood pressure and blood glucose readings of patients before they are seen by a physician.

Language differences posed some challenges for students. “We all were nervous about having limited Spanish speaking skills, so it was challenging, but then once we got to (take vitals), we felt great because the culture here is so welcoming,” one student noted at the presentation.

Measuring vitals was the most enjoyable task for Ms. Surma, who found that function to be “a perfect balance between interacting with the patients and learning important medical skills.” Practicing vitals in class was difficult, she noted, “but by the time I had done it on the first few patients, I gained so much confidence in this task.”

Intake, with its many opportunities to speak directly to people about to be treated, was also the most enjoyable brigade for Logan Wilson, a senior Biology major from Ravena, N.Y. “Within one day of being on intake, my Spanish comprehension improved tenfold. Being able to piece together each person’s story through the questions we were asking was eye-opening,” Mr. Wilson said.

Less structured, informal conversation could take place during intake as well, Wilson added. “A man began telling me about his medical problems because he had thought I was the doctor. I also shared many laughs with those I spoke with; we either laughed about my Spanish or their daily coffee/soda intake.”

Wilson learned of the Honduras program upon enrolling the pre-health program and then joined the campus club Fredonia for Friends of Honduran Children that supports children in Sociedad Amigos de los Niños, a Honduran organization that provides housing and education for children without parents or whose families cannot care for them.

“I am pre-vet, so I was a little worried I would not get as much out of the experience as those pursuing careers in human medicine, but I could not have been more wrong. I think everyone, of any major, should go on this trip,” Wilson said.

Several students told the audience that without these medical brigades, those living in some villages would have to travel several hours to a nearby city to receive medical attention.

Students had opportunities to shadow three physicians – Dr. Posas and Dr. Lazo, both Honduras medical doctors, and Dr. Emily Herfel, an OBGYN physician from the United States – while they examined patients. They learned how to find the pulse, listen to lung functioning and check the scalp and skin of patients.

“This was immensely hands-on,” a student noted. “Dr. Omar let me take blood pressure, and taught me to hear the patient’s lungs and heartbeat with a stethoscope, as well as listen for healthy vocal cords.”

Another student remarked that Dr. Posas “let me become a little bit of a doctor; he taught me some things that I’ll definitely remember for the rest of my life.”

“I wanted to get more insight on their everyday living but the job that really had me super intrigued was shadowing. I shadowed Dr. Sindy [Lazo] and learned how people make their living, but also how their lives are impacted by their environment.” - Jean Pacheco

The entire student contingent spent their first day in Honduras sorting pills and labeling small bottles of medicine to be picked up later by patients at the brigade pharmacy. Photographs showed students lining up on long tables to sort over-the-counter and prescription medicine. Pills ordered ahead of time by the pharmacist arrive in large bottles, each containing a thousand or more pills, so they have to be placed in smaller bottles.

“Every patient, regardless of the diagnosis, received parasitic treatment, multi-vitamins and acetaminophen,” a student reported.

“We had a lot of patients with acid reflux,” another student added.

Pain, high or low blood pressure, diabetes, ENT (ear, nose and throat) concerns, allergies, skin conditions, stomach problems and infections were common diagnoses.

Supplies of highly prescribed medicine can be limited, so students saw how the pharmacist found alternative treatments. “This was an example of the type of resourcefulness required to provide medical care in rural and underserved Honduras,” a student said.

Water research was the most enjoyable part of the Honduras experience for Delanie Tunstall, a senior Biology major from Forestville. During the fall semester, she analyzed water samples Lee had collected on a previous trip to Honduras, so she was able to see science that she had studied as an undergrad applied to a real-world issue. It became her task to “plate out” water samples she collected from homes to detect bacteria.

“When I first started working on this project with Dr. Lee, I was just analyzing samples that he brought back, so I didn’t have the personal connection that I have now. I plan on continuing this research throughout my time in Fredonia, because of the potential impact of the project,” Ms. Tunstall explained. She will pursue a master’s degree at Fredonia so she can continue to work on the Honduras water project with Lee.

While Tunstall anticipated notable differences in the country’s culture, the biggest surprise was seeing how welcoming, kind and grateful everyone was toward the Fredonia students.

Learning of the work done by previous medical brigades sparked Jean Pacheco’s interest in the Study Abroad program. A senior Exercise Science major from Puerto Rico, Mr. Pacheco enjoyed every activity, from taking vitals to gathering water samples in residents’ homes.

“I honestly enjoyed every single activity from intake all the way to sampling water at the villagers’ homes,” Pacheco said. “I wanted to get more insight on their everyday living but the job that really had me super intrigued was shadowing. I shadowed Dr. Sindy [Lazo] and learned how people make their living, but also how their lives are impacted by their environment.”

Alumni who joined this year’s brigades were Hailey Gould, ’21, who was the program assistant, Taylor Marelli, ’21, and Emma Pryll, ’22. Jake Wilkins, a nurse and spouse of Career Development Office Internship Coordinator Jenn Wilkins, was also aboard. Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work and Criminal Justice Joy Bilharz had served as the program assistant in previous years and she talked with the students about her experiences in the fall semester prior to their trip. Faculty members in addition to Lee have also attended in some years.

The Fredonia group was joined by a pharmacist and physician from the U.S. who were instrumental in the success of the program, Lee said. There were also physicians, a nurse, pharmacist, three interpreters, two security guards, a driver, three student volunteers and the program coordinator – all from Honduras.

An entirely different experience – playing games with young children while their parents were examined – was clearly the most enjoyable time for many students, who also spent time with children in Sociedad Amigos de los Niños.

“We got to go over and play soccer with them; they absolutely love everything we did,” a student said. Another reported attending a church mass with a little boy she had played soccer with. “He held my hands the entire mass, and you just felt like you were important – to the core of your being.”

“I really hope that more people feel inspired (to go to Honduras) because it was certainly life-changing,” she added.

Students strongly promoted the Honduran program to fellow students who are not science majors, and several vowed to return to Honduras.

“I will still be attending veterinary school in hopes of becoming a small-animal veterinarian,” Wilson said. "However, my experience in Honduras has me already planning to go back. Whether I return as an alumnus or by starting a group when I begin attending Cornell this fall, I want to continue to do this the rest of my life."