Weekend Clinic Visits

The backbone of SMP lies in the weekend clinic visits we conduct. The real mission of the organization is captured in these trips in which we “provide medical care to the indigenous people of Dominica.”

The clinic trips are open to SMP student members only, and usually take about 10-12 of such students. Led by at least one clinical coordinator, each trip departs from the Ross University School of Medicine library doors at 8AM of a particular Saturday morning. Transports leave and travel down the windy mountain roads towards the Atlantic coast for approximately 1 hour. Often, such trips make a pit stop at a local bakery in order to gather baked goods for the patients the students will see later.

Upon arrival at the Salybia Pre-School (where clinics are held), student volunteers are briefed by the clinical coordinator on duty. Vitals are practiced if need be, policies concerning how to approach patients are reviewed, and student volunteers are paired up.

Patients typically are waiting from long before the students’ arrival, anxious to see the physician and students. Nurse Sylvie Warrington also arrives before the student volunteers in order to open the setting and set up spaces for patient-student interaction. The pharmacist on duty also sets up accordingly.

Student pairs then begin their clinical experience with patients. For some, this may very well be the first such interaction in their professional, medical careers. They are asked to interview the patient, take vitals, and gather a complete history in preparation for overview by the physician, Dr. Worrell Sanford.

Once the patient’s turn has arrived, the student pair and the patient enter the “doctor’s room” where the students present the case at hand to the physician. Other students not directly involved in the case are also welcome to observe and participate. Diagnosis, treatment options, and other aspects concerning the case are openly and informally discussed, promoting a pure and unique learning experience for the students. Physical examinations and procedures are done by the students under the guidance of Dr. Sanford, providing them with valuable on-hands exposure they cannot gather elsewhere. Students are truly challenged in ways that ensure they know what they are getting into: the meat of medicine.

And the beauty of it lies in the fact that this process is repeated over and over, with students sometimes seeing as many as 15 or 16 patients in one day.

Students often enjoy lunch by the water, on the way noticing the picturesque and cliffside graveyard and church ruins. They return for more cases, and then depart the clinic after all the patients have been seen. Often times the physician will hold an informal summary of the day’s cases and thus will remind the students of the value of clinical exposure. After such a session, students assist in reorganizing and closing the pre-school area, and depart promptly thereafter.

Many of our student volunteers have found the experience extremely rewarding and insightful. An account of one such experience follows:

On Saturday I took a 1 1/2 hour transport with 11 of my fellow students to go to the Carib territory on the Atlantic side of Dominica, where the Salybia clinic is located.

The Salybia clinic is a free clinic held on Saturdays where we provide health care to the indigenous peoples of Dominica.

Actually, there was already a line of people in front of the clinic when we finally arrived, so we got right to work. I began to interview a 24 year old with her 16-month-old daughter, both of whom had complaints. I was able to get really good interviews for both of them, which I need to do my Behavioral Science write up.

When it was our turn, we went in to see Dr. Sanford. I had to present both patients to him, just like I would on rounds in the hospital, and then he did the physical exams. The doctor was wonderful, he gave me such good material to write my patient history on. That alone made my day. We went to go eat lunch down by the cemetery at the ocean. We found a nice shady place by a stream…it was awesome.

When we got back to the clinic, it was just in time to see a man with an infected hand get it lanced to drain the pus. Then I went outside and played with a goat while waiting for the last of the people to come to the transport on the way home. We finally left the clinic around 3pm, stopping once along the way to pick up some Carib baskets made by the locals.

I had such a good time on this trip; I can’t wait to go again next semester.

Written on Wednesday, Jul 20 2005

Accounts like these are plenty. Come and give back to the Carib community and gain hands-on clinical experience in the meantime.