An Intern's Perspective on Timmy Brigades

Text and photos by Adam Wohlman

Three weeks ago we welcomed a group of students, doctors, pharmacists, and support staff from the Indiana University chapter of Timmy Global Health, who all displayed great energy and enthusiasm from start to finish as they treated several hundred patients throughout the communities of Llanos del Pinal, Xeabaj, Pujujil, Buena Vista, and Xela. Ultimately my first Timmy brigade was an energy intensive, but very enjoyable, week. 

Any initial doubts (about how the mobile clinics would be organized, how many people would show up, or the quality of services provided) were firmly extinguished our first morning on March 14 in Llanos del Pinal, where I was struck by the organization, efficiency, and professionalism of the Timmy group. Despite numerous, and often changing, logistical and environmental challenges, it’d be hard to imagine an operation of this scale running much smoother.  

Throughout the course of the week I had the opportunity to perform several different functions: I worked as an interpreter for Dr. Deb (translating English to Spanish and vice-versa) while she provided medical consultations/exams, I dispensed prescription medications and their corresponding instructions to patients, I provided public health education to patients awaiting their prescriptions, and I accompanied a small group which administered an antiparasitic medication to more than 150 children at a school in Pujujil.

Despite all the talk of  ‘Timmy Weeks’ being especially hectic here at Pop Wuj, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, learned a lot (especially medical vocab), met some wonderful people, and will be more than ready when the next group arrives in May!

Students in Pujujil obviously loving the taste of the anti-parasitic meds

Drs. Herman and Mirza hard at work in Pujujil

The Timmy pharmacy team end the week strong in the Pop Wuj clinic