Libby: The Clinic/ a typical day

First, the clinic:

The clinic is called FIMRC (Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children). I think there are multiple clinics around the world with the same name, but this one is located in a small "suburb" of San Jose called Alejuelita. I call it a "suburb" because the area was described to us as one part of the "ring of poverty" that surrounds the city of San Jose. Each area is full of immigrants, mostly from Nicuragua at the moment. The immigrants come to Costa Rica for safety and because there is more money here. They think they will be able to get jobs near the capital, and therefore, there are many poor immigrant areas near San Jose.

So- the goal of the clinic is to meet the medical needs of the children from 3 neighborhoods in the area, as Jonathan described earlier. These kids aren't covered under the national health system because they are not citizens. The clinic was set-up by a doctor and a health educator. They are both single guys in their 30's with a lot of enthusiasm as well as compassion for the children they work with.

A typical day:

Leave for the clinic at 7:30, arrive at 8. Have Spanish class from 8-10 with Tatiana, the most amazing language teacher I have ever encountered! (and the clinic psychologist)

10-12: Each day we are assigned to a different part of the clinic:

The waiting room:

All three kids in this family are showing off their new clothes :)

the exam room: 3 students and one doctor sit in the exam room and see one family of children at a time. The doctor and students as questions, and then one student and the doctor exam one patient at a time. It is good for us to practice our clinical exam skills and medical Spanish!

(minus the laptop on the exam table, of course!)

the medicine room, the group that goes out to make home visits, and a few other tasks to help around the clinic (like updating charts and painting some furniture)

12-1 or 2: Lunch! We get chastized for eating so quickly . . . and I am learning to enjoy a prolonged lunch 'hour.'

Two afternoons each week, we go out into the community, either to a nearby soup kitchen or one of the neighborhoods where the kids live. We do skits and teach the kids some basic health lessons. Last week, the theme was nutrition and we taught them about good foods and bad foods, vitamins and the food pyramid, via skits, of course.

We also get one or two lectures each week about the 'theme' of the week. These are given by one of the doctors or the health educator or the psychologist. Last week, we got lectures on nutrition for babies and normal pediatric growth from the Family Medicine doc, Dr. Nancy Struthers. Today, we got a lecture from Tatiana about her work with the children and a bit about childhood and infant psychology.

More to come soon! Hope you are well.

libby