|
|
| |
|
| VOSH-ONE, Dr. Derek Feifke and friends,
give their services to those in need in the Dominican Republic |
| |
Report on joint Mission to
Constanza, Dominican Republic April 30 to May 6, 2011 by Derek Feifke OD
This was my first trip to the Dominican Republic. We set up clinics in
the mountainous region of Constanza. This beautiful part of the
Dominican Republic is at the highest altitude in the Caribbean at about
4500 feet and is also home to the tallest waterfall in the Dominican
Republic.
I represented VOSH as part of a multidisciplinary
team, which included a local Dominican physician, ENT specialist,
dentist, pediatrician and five nurses. I was the first optometrist to
join the “Constanza Mission” team. My fourteen-year-old son accompanied
me. Our team included three Rotarians who are introducing a desperately
needed water filtration system to the area. Five peace corp. volunteers
also assisted us.
The Constanza Mission was established six
years ago and the mission founders have worked with the local hospital
to upgrade and improve facilities since then. A full time Dominican
doctor works at the hospital overseeing patient care in the Mission’s
absence and mentoring local health care workers. A medical team from the
South Shore Hospital visits the same region twice a year and the area
has seen a substantial improvement in the standard and sustainability of
medical care.
Our team conducted one clinic in Constanza and
others in surrounding barrios in the mountains. Patients were first
triaged by the nurses and then examined by the doctors. As always there
was a high demand for our services. I examined and treated 150 patients
and dispensed about three hundred pairs of glasses. Complicated lens
prescriptions have been made up by my office lens lab and will be sent
to Constanza. An Ophthalmologist from the South Shore Hospital will join
a mission next May and perform surgery on sixteen patients that were
identified for cataract and pterygia surgery.
Being a part of a
multi-disciplinary team is most beneficial to the patients and very
satisfying to the health care team, in that varied and multiple health
care issues can be addressed at once. For myself, I found that I learnt
much from the other clinicians, and similarly they were able to call
upon me to address ophthalmic issues that would not have been addressed
had I not been on the team. It was a valuable and enjoyable experience
and I feel that future VOSH missions could benefit from this type of
collaboration. |
|