El Salvador Pediatric Trip

This past summer I had the opportunity to go on a medical mission trip to El Salvador.  PC School of Pharmacy joined up with Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) to conduct medical outreach to mainly pediatric patients.  Three pharmacy students, including myself, worked alongside thirty VCOM medical students, two pharmacist preceptors, seven physician preceptors, and a few other volunteers to make this trip successful.  During our trip, we stayed in three different hotels and truly got to experience local culture as well as delicious food.

Throughout our seven day trip, we conducted our mobile clinics in five different locations including the Heart of Mary Orphanage, Escuela Publica Santa Agueda, the Peace Messengers Orphanage, Shalom Community Health Clinic, as well as setting up in a remote mountain community called El Trimidal in Chalentenango.  The day to day operations included the following:  medical students examined patients under the supervision of physician preceptors in make-shift examination rooms, patients were escorted to the pharmacy by the medical students, medical students presented patients to the pharmacy with symptoms and desired medications, pharmacy students validated medications and dosages under the supervision of pharmacist preceptors, the medications were prepared for patients by the pharmacy students, and patients were counseled on the correct administration of the medications.

During the seven days we were there, we administered care to over 500 patients and dispensed over 1,200 prescriptions.  Care was given mainly to children, but we also cared for parents of the children as well as teachers at the orphanages.  Some of the commonly prescribed medications included antiparasitics, analgesics, antihistamines, multivitamins, and lice kits.  Although these were the commonly prescribed medications, we also dispensed other medications in addition to these.  

This medical outreach trip was a wonderful experience and was very rewarding.  I believe it exemplifies PC’s motto of “Dum Vivimus Servimus” which means while we live, we serve, and I feel blessed to have been able to serve on this trip. 

Written by Kemper, P2 Student