Doctors in training will acquire an advanced understanding of the issues impacting individual and community health in urban and rural Honduras and will understand one NGO’s strategies to provide access to healthcare professionals and prescribed medications. During the program, students will virtually shadow our local medical doctors in Honduras to deliver critical health services to resource-limited communities in urban and rural settings.
Students are immersed in the details of region-specific diseases and health issues; engage in real-time with doctors, community healthcare workers, and patients supported by advanced telemedical equipment; and explore pharmacology and the application of traditional medicines. Students will also create a group video that promotes healthy lifestyles, learn how to conduct monitoring and evaluations in the context of a community clinic, and work to develop intercultural competencies throughout the course.
Medical Program Learning Objectives
Students that successfully complete the Nursing Program will be able to:
- Discuss issues impacting the healthcare system in a developing country.
- Diagnose and treat some of the common diseases identified in urban and rural clinics to enhance students’ clinical medical skills.
- Discuss strategies used by Global Brigades, as a local NGO, to address the third UN Sustainable Development Goal (“Good Health and Wellbeing”).
- Explain how the social determinants of health impact the lives of people in rural and urban communities and discuss the interventions that Global Brigades employs to address them.
- Analyze data to monitor health trends and identify health risk factors unique to a single rural community.
Resources provided in support of the virtual sessions and Modules
- A bilingual, on-the-ground session facilitator will coordinate each virtual session with students.
- A translator is provided in each virtual session in which students engage with patients and community healthcare workers. Doctors and medical staff are also bilingual.
- Program materials are provided to all students.
- Session scheduling that coordinates your course and medical clinics.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
There are ten Modules in the Medical Program. Each Module is scheduled for two hours. The Modules can be variously assembled to build programs of the appropriate length and focus. Additional Modules can be developed to address specific campus needs.
Module 1: Global Brigades Overview and the Community Selection Process (Contact time: 2 hour est.)
Facilitator and student introductions. A presentation on Global Brigades (GB) and its NGO non-profit development programs. Details of the community selection process are discussed. An exploration of key approaches to working with international communities: reflection, action, and intercultural competencies.
Module 1 – Self-paced follow-up activities:
Reflect on Global Brigades’ holistic model and the advantages of an integrated community development approach that impacts health.
Students will explore the community profile on our website. They will watch a video on the social determinants of health, and then complete the Social Determinants of the Health Worksheet (UN SDG – 3).
Module 2: The Honduran Medical and Healthcare Systems and the Community Health Workers in Honduras (Contact time: 2 hour est.)
Explore in detail the Honduran medical and healthcare systems.
Facilitator discusses Global Brigades’ Community Healthcare Worker Program as a first strategy to address the third UN SDG in Honduras, as well as in other countries in the world
Module 2 – Self-paced follow-up activities:
Reflect on the Honduran medical and healthcare systems, and draw parallels to your own medical/healthcare systems.
Prepare questions for the Community Healthcare Worker meeting in Module 3
Module 3: Meeting Community Healthcare Workers (Contact time: 2 hour est.)
Live meeting with Community Healthcare Workers (CHWs) to discuss specific community needs and the role of the CHWs to support the continuity of care within the community.
Module 3 – Self-paced follow-up activities:
Use the worksheet to research and compare other CHW interventions around the world.
Module 4: Clinic Preparation 1 (Contact time: 2 hour est.)
The urban clinic as a strategy to address the third UN SDG (access to a healthcare professional and affordable medication).
A local Medical Doctor will also work with students to prepare for the urban clinic session (Modules 6 and 7). The most common diseases encountered in the country will be discussed, Electronic Medical Records will be analyzed, effective medical consultations with local patients will be conducted to determine correct diagnoses, common medications and their use in the clinics, and an introduction to traditional Honduran medicine
Module 4 – Self-paced follow-up activities:
Group reviews anonymized past patient data from rural clinics and reviews the common illnesses encountered.
Module 5: Clinic Preparation 2 – TeleMedicine Equipment, Patient Consultations (Contact time: 2 hour est.)
Students will be oriented to the telemedicine equipment used at the urban clinic. A MD will conduct mock patient consultations with students, based on local symptom-disease practice, to prepare for the Clinic Sessions and practice Spanish medical terms.
Module 5 – Self-paced follow-up activities:
Students review the Spanish Medical Terminology worksheet.
Module 6: Live Virtual Urban Clinic Day 1 (Contact time: 2 hours est.)
Students will be shadowing our Honduran MDs, Optometrists, Pharmacists, and Dentists utilizing telemedical devices at our Urban Clinic in Tegucigalpa.
Module 6 – Self-paced follow-up activities:
Reflections and observations from Urban Clinic Day 1.
Students will begin creating a group video to educate patients in the urban clinic waiting room on an assigned health issue to be presented in Module 10
Module 7: Live Virtual Urban Clinic Day 2 (Contact time: 2 hours est.)
Students will be shadowing our Honduran MDs, Optometrists, Pharmacists, and Dentists utilizing telemedical devices at our Urban Clinic in Tegucigalpa.
Module 7 – Self-paced follow-up activities:
Reflections and observations from Urban Clinic Day 2.
Module 8: Social Determinants of Health and the Honduran Medical Program using a recorded Rural Clinic Day (Contact time: 2 hours est.)
Students will observe some of the social determinants of health impacting the lives of rural community members. A rural clinic day is recorded in a community assigned to each class, where students observe how a selection of MDs, HCWs, Optometrists, and Dentists work with patients in a mobile rural clinic setting. A MD will discuss the most interesting epidemiological cases encountered in the rural clinic, along with patient feedback
Module 8 – Self-paced follow-up activities:
The class updates the Social Determinants of Health worksheet.
Module 9: Monitoring and Evaluation using Rural Clinic Data -(Contact time: 2 hour est.)
Students will learn how to monitor health trends and identify health risk factors unique to the assigned rural community.
Module 9 – Self-paced follow-up activities:
The group completes the rural community’s Impact Report to be presented in Module 10. The group also prepares cooking materials for the Cultural Celebration.
Module 10: Cultural Celebration and Final Reflections (Contact time: 2 hour est.)
Students present the rural community’s Impact Report and the charla video to educate patients in the urban clinic waiting room on an assigned health issue. Group also prepares a local Honduran dish to be shared, and reflects on the overall experience of the Program.
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