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Liberty student-doctors’ service in Central America, Caribbean builds global medicine efforts

Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) sent two teams abroad during their Spring Break, just before the peak of the COVID-19 global pandemic, to Pontezuela, Dominican Republic (DR), and Roatán, Honduras. Both went with a mission to strengthen existing international partnerships in global medicine.

“For those who may be sensing the call to full-time medical missions, these overseas mission trips in the first and second year of medical school are great opportunities to see if the student can handle the emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual stressors, as well as the cultural differences,” said Dr. Kathleen Bogacz, associate professor of internal medicine, who led the team in the DR alongside Dr. Laura J. Potter, assistant professor of emergency medicine. “It allows them to pursue missions with more confidence going forward. The faculty-student interactions over a week is also invaluable, personal attention that helps students hone presentation and physical examination skills. Watching the clinician mentor as he/she cares for patients, interviews, examines, and then prays for patients — in real time — is apprenticeship at its best.”

LUCOM sudent-doctors conducted health clinics in the Dominican Republic in early March. (Photos by Ellie Richardson)

The trip in the DR expanded on an existing partnership with Iglesia Comunidad Multicultural (ICM), a local church. For the last six years, ICM has been intentionally active, embracing the lives of the poorest of the poor in Pontezuela, a neighborhood within Santiago. The area is populated by Haitian immigrants and Dominicans, both impoverished. Through consistent advocacy to improve the lives of those in Pontezuela, ICM was able to influence the government to install electricity, pave the roads, and establish trash pick-up. Additionally, ICM was able to raise funds and build the Jubilee Center, a community center in Pontezuela, where much of LUCOM’s global medicine efforts occurred. Several local doctors from the government-based clinics joined in the patient care.

“The Dominican Republic suffers from significant poverty as well as cultural and ethnic persecution” Potter added. “What a privilege it is and joy to love on these people, to offer them what we could medically and to share the true hope in Christ.”

Some members of the LUCOM team traveled each day to La Vega, the third-largest city in the DR, to work with the nonprofit True Evangelism Always Requires Sacrifice (TEARS) at their school clinic.

Destiny Roberts, Class of 2022, a member of the DR team, said she believes that medical outreach trips are important for osteopathic medical students as they focus on all aspects of healthcare.

“There were so many patients who suffered spiritual afflictions, instead of purely physical ones. Being able to talk with them from a Christian perspective and praying with them is such an important experience to have,” she said. “It is very important for medical students to experience cultures that are different from our own to understand the key to being culturally sensitive in order to provide successful treatment.”

Dr. Bogacz works with student-doctors as they perform an untrasound as part of the clinic.

In the DR, LUCOM students and faculty treated patients with hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, back pain, water-based illnesses due to the lack of clean water, dermatologic irritations, chronic tension headaches, and stomach aches. All the patients faced different social circumstances, including some who had suffered abuse.

“When you encounter patients experiencing severe social situations, there are no words for the helplessness and loss that you feel, especially when you have no resources or solutions to offer,” said Raymond Vickery, Class of 2022. “There are so many reasons why we can’t always just swoop in and rescue people out of their circumstances, and it is paralyzing. However, it is in those precise moments when I believe God shows up through the hands and feet of the church. Through divine appointments and gifted translators, we were able to offer help to those whom we would otherwise never have been able to. That is when I knew that God was working through the work that we were doing, and that He would be there to come alongside us as we saw patients and attempted to bring His Kingdom just a little more on this Earth.”

In Roatán, Honduras, Liberty osteopathic medical students volunteered at the Clinica Esperanza, working with local and visiting national doctors and seeing close to 20 patients per student each day. They examined patients in OB-GYN, diabetes, pediatrics, general medicine, and the emergency department.

As with every LUCOM medical outreach trip, one of the focuses on patient care is the use of osteopathic manipulative treatments (OMT). Through hands-on interaction with patients, LUCOM student-doctors are able to evaluate and treat musculoskeletal discomfort.

During mission trips, student-doctors also share the love of Christ.

“Pretty much every patient we encountered in Honduras was welcoming of us as visiting US medical student,” said Jeremy Jones, Class of 2022. “What I found most exciting was the power of osteopathic manipulative medicine in the mission field. The Honduran culture is one where the patients are not used to being touched by their doctors. The doctors traditionally sit behind a desk and prescribe medications. There was one case in particular where a patient had severe neck and back pain. I was able to utilize a spray-and-stretch technique and perform osteopathic manipulative treatment on her, and she left feeling much better. She offered a hug of gratitude at the end.”

LUCOM was also able to provide donated vitamins and medicines for each trip through a continued partnership with Blessings International.

“The kindness and heart of our students uniquely stood out to me. What a joy to see them sing every day, pray from the depths of our hearts together, share struggles and joys and see them develop clinical skills throughout the week. I couldn’t be prouder of them,” Potter said.

On March 10, Liberty University announced a no-travel policy restricting all faculty, staff, and students from university-supported trips, both nationally and internationally. On March 13, both teams returned to the United States, safely and in good health.

 

Video by Christopher Breedlove, Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine

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