Don't Worry, I Play a Doctor in the OR

In early November, I participated in one of the most highly coveted Peace Corps activities: the Medical Mission. Like Peace Corps gold. It works like this: a group of doctors, nurses and staff from an area (say, Kansas City) hospital or university come to perform a series of medical services here in the DR. A select group of Volunteers, then, are chosen to help the medical team in translation and other things. Since most of these services are performed on the poor, we are especially valuable since we live in those marginalized communities targeted by the missions, meaning that we better understand the rural accent and culture than someone who may have studied Spanish in say, Spain.

Why are med missions so great? We Volunteers get to travel to a nice medical center for a week (read: AC and decent food), have everything paid for, and even get taken out by the generous doctors if they are feeling kind. Plus, we are working. A win-win for sure.

The Med Mission I participated in was very specific – hernia surgeries. For a week, these doctors and nurses, with the invaluable help of the PCV, performed eight to ten hernia operations a day in each of the three operating rooms. It was fascinating. For anyone who has not been in an operating room, do it. Its cool. Scrubs are really comfortable, and all of that shiny medical equipment I’m not allowed to touch for fear I was going to contaminate them was mesmerizing.

Well, maybe I thought I was going to lose my boiled plantain breakfast the first day. After that, I got over the spurting blood (OK so that only happened once), the smell of burning skin (some sort of hot knife for cutting), and massive, and often open, testicles. Remember, hernias? These things range from kind of to fairly to very nasty, and our rural farmer friends lack basic medical care, so they go untreated for, well, a while. The center here in the DR has volunteers who go out into the rural areas to look for prospective patients, and then bring them in for operations. Needless to say, I got the opportunity to witness some things not often seen by anyone in the states.

Our everyday work here can be daunting and maddeningly slow. Seeing actual results is rare and fleeting. Sometimes it feels like I’ve been locked in a padded cell with no padding. Participating in the med mission is refreshing. We are able to see how our presence is appreciated. We are also able to fulfill one of Peace Corps 3 main goals: to bring home what it is that we do here as PCVs. The medical staff that gives up their vacation time and a week of pay gets to see the life of a PCV, and bring home stories of the crazy Volunteers that they have met. It is also an important reminder for us what it is that is going on at home – the economic crisis, the election (Republicans can be good people, too!), and the daily adventure of a suburban parent. Some of these things are as foreign to us as the rural villages in which we live to the doctors and nurses. Así es.

I’ve tried to post a few pictures here. Enjoy.