8/15/2013

Today Dani, Theresa, and I visited the Rivirie Cyrique clinic while the other group visited the House of Hope. This clinic was much smaller than the LaPlaine clinic that our group had visited earlier in the week. Kent was also at this clinic but his pharmacy was not much larger than a closet and all of the medications that he had with him were packed in a medium sized suitcase. We took turns dispensing and counseling with Kent, assisting the nurse, and listening in on the doctor’s conversations with the patients. Similar to LaPlaine, all of the people that we interacted with were very friendly and very willing to tell us about their health. At LaPlaine, we didn’t have the opportunity to be in the rooms with the nurse or doctor so we were very excited to experience that aspect of Dominican healthcare. It was very interesting to see that the doctor tried to incorporate herbal remedies into patient treatment plans. One patient in particular had high cholesterol so in addition to starting the patient on Simvastatin, she also told him that adding more garlic and avocado into his diet may help as well. For me, this was a good example of how to integrate both sides of medicine. After we returned from clinic, some of the group rode with Justin and Joanne throughout Petite Savanne to publicize tomorrow’s health fair. We are hoping to see and interact with lots more patients!
-Bianca