Description
The Division of Global Health in the UBC Department of Family Practice has partnered with the St. Clotilde Health Centre in the Peruvian Amazon to provide clinical service and develop local capacity through sustainable projects. To read more about how this partnership developed, click on this link:
Since 2011, UBC affiliated medical students, residents, and physicians have participated in volunteer or elective placements at St. Clotilde. Below are a series of blogs about their experiences.
In 2013, a UBC MPH student conducted a priority needs assessment to identify key areas of need and importance to the community and health care providers.
Elective placement
The elective is based at the The Centro De Salud of Sta. Clotilde, which has 20 beds and is located on the Napo River in Peru’s Amazon region providing service and community outreach for 13 river communities. Dr. Jack MacCarthy and Dr. Maurice Schroeder have a long-term medical commitment to the community and will provide supervision for elective students and residents and mentorship for practicing physicians at the clinic. A clinical placement consists of a minimum of a four week service learning elective concentrating on inpatient and outpatient international health care at the Centro De Salud hospital. Students/Residents act as subinterns on Pediatrics, Internal Medicine and Surgical units, under the direct supervision of Dr. MacCarthy. Students/Residents will assist in the operating room as well as preoperative and postoperative care. Students/Residents will take call, not more than every fourth night, which will maintain coverage of the wards and Emergency Room. They also spend a minimum of three hours per day in the outpatient clinic seeing a variety of surgical, internal medicine, pediatric and obstetrical problems. Emphasis is placed on the skills of history and physical examination which enable the student/resident to arrive at a diagnosis and treatment plan. Students/Residents are expected to actively participate in rounds and become familiar with the various diseases of the population. He/she will also be required to do a formal case presentation at the Centro De Salud. Students/Residents are encouraged to participate in community-directed research and project development that will lead to sustainable and innovative solutions to improve health outcomes and strengthen community capacity. Volunteers will also have the opportunity to participate in outreach trips to river communities on “vaccination campaigns” which can include acute consults, education workshops, surveys, screening programs, and vaccinations.
Community projects and research
Nutrition and Meythylmercury Assessment in the Napo River, Peru – A PARTNERSHIP OF SANTA CLOTILDE HEALTH CENTER, UBC, PANGO PERU AND PANGO CANADA
This project is now completed and has been published in The Journal of Global Health, Spring 2020 Issue (English & Spanish)
Dietary exposure to methylmercury from fish consumption by Indigenous communities along the Napo River, Peru
Erick M. Carreras, MScGH1, Erika Neilson, MPH, MBChB2, John Neilson, PhD3, Videsh Kapoor, MD1, Randy Baker†, MSc
https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/jgh/article/view/5934
Application guidelines and orientation guide
Current elective placements are available for two students per month. Ideal for students in their clinical training period (MED 4, Residents). Basic Spanish is essential and taking some Spanish lessons prior to your elective is strongly suggested. This elective is not open to volunteers or learners with no Spanish language ability. A language screening test is part of the application process.
This elective is suitable for 3rd or 4th year medical students who have done some or all of their clinical clerkship training and residents from any training program. Clinical volunteer placements for practicing physicians are available.
SANTA CLOTILDE ORIENTATION GUIDEBOOK – please ask for this once you have been confirmed for an elective placement
Blogs by past volunteer students, residents, and physicians
UBC 4th year students and residents – a shared blog titled Fiebre de la Selva (Jungle Fever)
Michael Slatnik – Family Practice Resident
Dr. Richard Currie – Family Physician