Page 34 - COM Outlook - Spring 2013

34 COM Outlook . Spring 2013
Improving Health and Heightening
Clinical Skills in Jamaica
ow in its 12th year, the medical outreach trip to
Jamaica, coordinated by Paula Anderson-Worts,
D.O., M.P.H., associate professor of family
medicine and public health and program director of the
NSU-COM/Broward Health Family Practice Residency,
continues to offer programs that enrich lives. Over the
years, Dr. Anderson-Worts has developed an invaluable
relationship with communities and volunteers through-
out the country that helps NSU-COM students achieve
hands-on clinical experience while providing medical,
pharmacy, occupational therapy, dental, and ophthalmol-
ogy care for underserved Jamaican populations.
During the Jamaica medical outreach excursion, held
December 9-17, 2012, a 47-member contingent comprising
volunteers, physicians, medical students, optometrists, phar-
macy students, pharmacists, a public health attending, and
a public health student worked together to serve over 2,000
patients in Westmoreland and St. James. Through dedica-
tion and creativity, the group transformed schools, churches,
and office buildings into makeshift clinical sites to care for
people in need. In addition, the participants provided free
services such as medical care for various ailments, medica-
tion, preventative medical counseling, and eyeglasses.
“My most meaningful patient encounters in the last
year and a half had been with paid actors that were in-
structed to hold their bellies and groan in agony as an au-
tomated voice told me that I ‘may now enter the room,’”
said OMS-II Joshua Axam when discussing the trip’s sig-
nificance. “All that changed when I booked my flight to
Kingston in December. The automated voice was replaced
by the words coming from a slew of attending physicians,
colleagues, and pharmacists who traveled with me. Pa-
tients stopped pretending to scratch fictional rashes and
began presenting with a variety of visible dermatological
conditions I had only read about up to that point.
“Going on a medical outreach trip was by far the most
important, rewarding, and significant event in my medi-
cal career thus far,” he added. “By breaking away from
the student-teacher hierarchy of the classroom, I built
confidence in my own abilities and gained knowledge
and skills in new areas. I was given the freedom and op-
portunity to act as a practicing physician, learn from my
own mistakes, and seek guidance when needed.”
N According to OMS-II Patricia Ameida, “The experi-
ence exceeded my unclear expectations in a multitude
of ways,” she admitted. “As a medical student, I had the
privilege to provide medical attention to impoverished
individuals who would not have otherwise had the means
to receive it. All the individuals I encountered were
unique and appreciative of my attention. There was not
one person who was rude, impatient, or ungrateful; in
fact, the Jamaican population, as a whole, has to be one
of the most gracious and courteous I have had the plea-
sure to interact with. Many even called me doctor, which
made me blush with undeserving humility. I was able to
immerse myself in the culture, which allowed me to gain
insight on their simple, yet content, ways of life.
“Although I was only there for a week, I feel like I
gained mountains of knowledge and experience that could
not have been acquired from a textbook,” she added. “The
first day I was a timid, unsure medical student who did not
even know how to write a prescription. By the final day,
I was a lot more confident in my ability to approach a pa-
tient, make a diagnosis, and come up with a plan of action. I
must attribute this immense growth to the overall cohesive-
Changing Lives...One Person at a Time International Outreach at NSU-COM