Finally, I heard back from Javier Malca at Fundacion Salud Sin Fronteras (FSF). In addition to responding to my email with optimism, he asked that I call to set up a meeting. Within three days I was on my way to Parque Merced in San Jose to meet with Javier and head to one of the clinics. He no-showed! I was worried at first, dejected, and finally resolved to find the clinic on my own and see what was going on. He was not answering his phone or responding to text messages; either something was wrong or FSF was another dead end.
After an adventure with a cab driver, I found my way to the main clinic of FSF. As it turned out, Javier was called to a medical emergency meeting. The sub-director, Italo, came to meet me at the clinic and discuss my potential volunteer work with FSF. Once Italo arrived, everything turned to gold.
Fundacion Salud Sin Fronteras is a non-profit operating in Costa Rica to provide at-cost medications and procedures to the lower socioeconomic strata of the region. While health care here is only $20/month, that is still economically unfeasible for a number of citizens. The foundation works with doctors, drug suppliers, the government, and the people of Costa Rica to deliver health care to a greater number of patients. To date, FSF has seen over a million patients, at 14 clinics, and has provided over $40,000,000 in treatment to aid the Ministry of Public Health here in Costa Rica.
I am truly excited to be a part of this organization. Italo can provide me with (limited) desk space, fairly unlimited shadowing and clinical/surgical volunteer experience, administrative tasks and non-profit development, and an opportunity to be part of a very positive force in the world. They'll take me 2-3 days a week, on my schedule, for my entire time in Costa Rica. I think I'll be at one of the clinical sites every Monday and Wednesday. I may also be helping out with the planning and logistics of a health-relevant music festival happening this summer (January).
My First Day With FSF
Friday was my first day volunteering at FSF. I picked up a scrub-top and pair of Crocs, and wore them with a pair of khakis for my first day in the office. It was a very exciting morning. The doctor showed up at around 8:15am, and by 8:45 I was holding a bite-block in place as the doctor narrated a gastroscopy. I expected that assisting a GI specialist would have involved a lot more horrible smells, but the procedures were mess-free. I was also taken aback by the use of versed and the invasive procedures done without more staff, resources, and emergency equipment present. The treatment seemed top-quality, I just had anxiety about precautionary measures when I compared the FSF clinic to the outpatient surgical practice where I worked in Virginia.
I will certainly be starting a notebook to document everything I do with FSF. I know that my future with the organization will afford me with a ton of opportunities for participation, observation, and difference-making. Though I did little more than help groggy patients out of bed and protect the doctors scope from patient's teeth, it was a great learning experience. In the future I should be present for a wide array of procedures (any time paying voluntourists aren't visiting the clinic), and I should have an impact on a large part of the practice.
My goals are to have the website translated, and to have begun a self-guided review course for a Spanish-English medical interpreter exam by the end of October. Everything that I am doing here is part of my path to becoming a doctor, and every aspect of my day is moving me forward towards my dreams. Even though I'm short on close relationships, furniture, art, books, and certain articles of clothing, I have to admit that I am happy.
I'm headed to a used bookstore tomorrow in the hopes of finding some intermediate Spanish literature, some anatomy/first aid textbooks, and maybe a book or two in English for my high schoolers.
Pura Vida,
Z
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