Practicing this way for a relatively short time in a place like Nicaragua helps a training physician to develop a deeper level of confidence and competence that otherwise may take years to develop in the states.
– Harrison C.
The scope of our work
Clinical Medical Assistance
Ultrasound
Education
Clinical Medical Assistance
Hands on Medical Work
We organize week long medical trips for American health care providers from all backgrounds – physicians, surgeons, nurses, physician assistants, medical and nursing students.
During the five days of clinic work, the provider will be paired with various Nicaraguan health care providers who supervise their work. This is an excellent opportunity for collaboration as both providers discuss various cases both in conferences and at the bedside. The specific medical work varies according to the training and experience of the American participant.
We always obtain full permission for the medical work through the Ministry of Health (MINSA) and all work is directly supervised by the Nicaraguan providers. The dynamic is very similar to the resident – attending physician, or the student nurse – supervising nurse interaction in teaching hospitals in the United States where the learner has an appropriate degree of independence to interact with the patient and evaluate their medical issues, while all plans and decision-making is monitored and approved by the supervising provider.
The exciting yet challenging aspect for many American providers is coming up with a treatment plan often based only on the history and physician exam. Most of our clinical experience sites are very resource-poor, and in the remote clinics there are no immediate labs or imaging available.
Clinical work The medical experience for the American participants can vary from rounding on critically ill patients in the ICU to going on home visits in the remote communities.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound Implementation
Our project has gathered data across many health care locations in Nicaragua, from large hospitals to remote clinic, that shows the benefit of ultrasound to make better informed diagnostic and management decisions for patients.
We have been donating ultrasounds that will be used in many clinical circumstances, from the ER to the ICU to the remote clinic, and with many types of patients from adults to pregnant women to pediatrics.
Increasing Ultrasound Availability
Ultrasound has the potential to be a relatively low cost yet very effective tool to augment the physical exam in making treatment decisions.
We have already conducted trials for the ultrasound probes and devices at various locations in two areas of Nicaragua – Rivas province in the south and Jinotega province in the north – and we are developing partnerships with donor to increase this pilot program and continue to gain data to analyze their efficacy in a real-world clinical setting.
We work closely with the Ministry of Health (MINSA) for these pilot programs and we work with Nicaraguan physicians who are our ultrasound champions at the various locations.
