REMEDY UChicago
The Pritzker trip to the Dominican Republic
Sam Fuller, MS 2
By Sam Fuller, MS 2
In October 2005, the Pritzker Chapter of REMEDY (Recovered Medical Supplies for the Developing World) was in transition. After five years of raising funds for hospitals and clinics in Cuba, political pressures and complications made ongoing visits to this country too difficult.The prior year's class had chosen Peru as their site, but an impassioned speech by REMEDY member Algernon Cargill convinced the group to consider the Dominican Republic as an ideal site both for its lack of resources and high morbidity and mortality rates, but also for the opportunities it would present for students to work with medical students and doctors and participate in direct patient care. Ranking as one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere and one closest in proximity to the United States, the group decided to put its time and effort into helping this neighbor. Twenty first-year medical students from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine participated in REMEDY during the 2005-2006 school year. They were joined by two pre-medical students from the University of Chicago who would serve as Spanish translators for the trip to the Dominican Republic. They were also met in Santo Domingo by Dr. Eugene Geppert, a retired physician from the University of Chicago, who would serve as a valuable medical resource and translator during the trip.
Pritzker's 2005-2006 REMEDY student group
After contacting Dr. Maximo Brito, an infectious disease physician at the University of Illinois-Chicago, originally from the Dominican Republic, t h e goals and expectations of the student group came into focus. He put students in contact with urban and rural clinics, and REMEDY UChicago was able to obtain a list of desired medical supplies and medications. In order to obtain these supplies, REMEDY UChicago conducted a number of fundraising activities, including a Faculty Auction, Speed-Dating, Chicago Bulls' Ticket Sales, Date Auction, and other events, raising $25,000 in just a few months.
The group then used its funds to request and purchase the medicine and shipping material from pharmaceutical companies, non-profit organizations, and from the
University of Chicago Hospitals. In all, the group transported 41 boxes full of nearly 2,000 pounds of medical supplies with them in June 2006. The boxes included sutures and other surgical equipment, antibiotics, vitamins, catheters, bandages, and many other items requested by the different clinics and hospitals. These hospitals ranged from urban hospitals to small rural clinics serving some of the poorest residents of the country.
REMEDY member Vance Broach prepares to scrub in for surgery in rural Bani, Dominican Republic
While in the Dominican Republic, students took part in grand rounds in Santo Domingo, shadowed and assisted in surgeries in rural Bani, and even witnessed a live birth in the maternity hospital. The entire group met and spoke with children in Barahona who take part in a "nutrition education" clinic which promises the children at least one meal a day because food is not always guaranteed to the children. The whole experience changed every member of the group, and each member was asked to make journal entries about their experience as a way to remember the trip.
Among the important people who contributed to the trip were:
- Dr. Adelaida Oreste, Director of CISADE (Centro Integral de Salud y Desarollo, Inc.) who took time out of her busy schedule to bring REMEDY to the Barahona clinics and offered information about the difficulty of providing quality medicine in the Dominican Republic. Through rolling blackouts and limited space in all of the clinics, the group of medical students were exposed to many eye-opening daily realities of the country, such as multiple doctors using the same exam room for consultation, something that ordinarily does not occur in our privacy-sensitive hospitals.
- Dr. Maritza Martinez, Coordinator of the Bani clinics, who connected her Dominican medical students with our group. These medical students attended INTEC, a strong institution in Santo Domingo. In Bani, the students lived together, worked together, and exchanged information about aspirations in medicine and in life. The most hands-on experiences occurred in Bani, with several students able to assist in surgeries and take an active part in consultations and exams.
- Dr. Carolina de la Cruz and Dr. Jorge Marte who coordinated exciting days in the urban teaching hospital, allowing group members access to presentations, discussions, and patient rounds. The urban hospital was most similar to the University of Chicago and typical hospitals in the United States, but students saw many rare diseases such as Dengue Fever and illnesses that are not normally seen at home.
- Dena Simmons, who opened her doors at the maternity hospital, allowing the group to see overcrowded waiting rooms full of expected mothers and other patients. With their requests for pens, notebooks, and other office supplies, it was clear that REMEDY could aid the clinic even with seemingly minor donations.
The impact of the trip was visible everywhere we visited. What connected all of these experiences was the kindness and enthusiasm everyone in the Dominican Republic showed in working with the group. This year's REMEDY student group will be returning to the Dominican Republic and will build on the foundation laid over the last year. For a diary of events and description of the 2005-2006 REMEDY experience, please visit http://remedyuchicago.org.
