First Impressions of the Pop Wuj Clinic

By Emma Gilbert, General Projects Coordinator

My first day at the clinic was last Tuesday, where I got to know the doctors and medical students that are working there. I was greeted by Isabel who does the initial registration of all patients. Look at that smiling face!

Isabel, the Pop Wuj Secretary

Although I have little background in medicine, I was able to help with patient intake by recording the answers for the two Guatemalan high school interns. Although they definitely (and normally do) get along without this kind of help, it was great to get to meet some of the community members that the clinic serves. I was not surprised that many of the illnesses are chronic, such as stomach issues like ulcers, or diabetes. These issues are manageable, but without the proper medications and check ups at the clinic, many of the patients would experience much worse symptoms.

After a few hours of patient intake, a 4th year med student named Esther from Tulane began her consults with patients. Admittedly, I did take a little coffee break before we started! The Guatemalan doctors really push through all consults without stopping, which is so impressive. 

When I went back down to the clinic, I sat in on the consults, along with another med student named Elizabeth, who will begin her own consults in the coming weeks. Esther’s Spanish is more advanced so there was little need for translation. It  was so fun to see how well she could communicate with everyone and I loved how the other doctors worked with her to teach, diagnosis, and treat the patients.

In the coming weeks I’ll be in the clinic more often to help Elizabeth with translation in the consults, and in a few weeks we will all be pitching in to help with the Timmy Global Health brigade that is coming down. We can't wait!

Luby, the Pop Wuj nurse, in the pharmacy