Week 3 of Medical Training is Halfway Done

Week three is halfway done. The Barefoot Dr. students are doing great. Monday they learned about the dangers of Cholera and Dehydration. This directly relates to their country right now because there are several refugee camps. The most recent, and by far the largest, is the Rohingya camp on the Bangladesh side of the Burma border to the north.  

Some estimates say there are almost a million refugees crowded in this camp. This situation is high risk for major health issues like Cholera, which can sometimes kill its victims in less than a day by severe dehydration. Fortunately, there is actually a Cholera vaccine. 

Cholera vaccines are vaccines that are effective at preventing cholera. For the first six months after vaccination they provide about 85 percent protection, which decreases to 50 percent or 62 percent during the first year. After two years the level of protection decreases to less than 50 percent. With this simple knowledge the Barefoot Dr. students may be able to save thousands of lives by encouraging those in at risk situations to take the vaccine.

Today the focus was on emotional, psychological health issues and addictions. This seemed fitting for Valentines Day after all. This far into the program, and with a few weeks left, many students do start getting the “blues.” They miss their homes and families. For many of them this is the longest trip away from home they have ever done. Betty, a teaching nurse from Newfoundland, led the training on psychology and emotional help and had a lot of interest from the students. We all did our best to encourage the students today at this mid-point in the program.

 We will try and post blogs more regularly now that we are catching up on our sleep and adjusting from the time change. It is 15 hours earlier here than my home in California. It is truly a blessing to all us instructors to be here and empower the students as well as learn from them.    Rick