The Sault College nursing students had an eye-opening experience volunteering at a pop-up clinic near the South American nation’s capital, and they hope to inspire more students to join on future trips
A volunteer trip to Peru has given three Sault College nursing students a new perspective on health care, and they hope to inspire more local students to join in on future trips.
Michael Shepherd, Deanna St. Germain and Lucas Holowaychuk spent a week near the country’s capital, Lima, volunteering with a group of 170 students from around North America through MEDLIFE – an international non-profit that brings health care to low-income communities.
The students helped provide care for close to 2,000 people during their week abroad, offering a variety of medical services in a pop-up clinic that brought medicine directly to an underserved part of the community.
“The wait times are really long, and they also cannot afford to take the time out of their day to go and travel two hours to the hospital,” said St. Germain.
“Bringing the MEDLIFE clinics to them gives them that access and allows them to at least be seen by a physician, get that primary care, and then from there the physician would refer them.
It was an experience that left a big impact on the local students.
For Shepherd, the trip showed him that even small tasks – like checking someone’s blood pressure – can help make a big difference for a community.
“You might start out by doing some tasks that you might consider mundane or feel like you’re not making a huge impact, but you really are because small things can actually go a long way,” he said.
“Small things like guiding someone to an appointment, taking their vital signs and making sure you report the high blood pressure to the doctor – doing those things is important.”
The clinic covered general medical needs, dentistry, gynecology, health education and a pharmacy providing medications that can be difficult to access in the region, and St. Germain saw firsthand how their efforts were able to make a difference.
“(We) found patients with HPV who would not have known that until it was way too late. Getting a checkup like that is huge for early access,” she said.
“As a future nurse, this experience has also taught me the importance of actively listening to the needs of a person as well as the needs of a community to achieve a better quality of life.”
With the trip behind them, the students are working to grow the local MEDLIFE chapter, with promotion on social media underway and plans to engage students on campus.
Membership is also open to students at other schools, such as Algoma University, and the students hope they can inspire a group of ten or more to take part in a future volunteer trip abroad.
“It can be a little overwhelming and uncomfortable to want to go abroad, but we’re always there to talk about it, help them out, and provide the resources they need to be ready for it,” Shepherd said.
The local MEDLIFE chapter can be contacted through its social media page.