The delegation of medical students from Indiana University arrived in El Salvador on January 28, 2024 and stayed in the municipality of Suchitoto for 4 weeks during which they did their rotations in medical centers and received Spanish classes.
From January 28 to 31, the delegation stayed in the capital San Salvador for orientation days led by CoCoDA’s director in El Salvador, Karilyn Vides, and the assistant director in El Salvador, Enrique Pineda.
The delegation consisted of fourth year medical students: Kristen Lentsch, Asif Hossain, Connor Clemens y Logan Reed.
Orientation Days
The first days of the delegation’s stay were dedicated to the orientation on the history and current situation of El Salvador, through visits to different museums, historical and tourist sites.
These were some of the places visited:
- Monsignor Romero Center, University of Central America UCA
- La Divina Providencia Hospital (residency of Mons. Romero)
- Word and Image Museum MUPI
- San Salvador Historical Downtown
- New National Library
Homestays
The Aguacayo community in Suchitoto hosted the delegation from January 31 until February 24, 2024.
The CoCoDA team together with our partner CRC, organized a previous meeting to orient the community about the responsibilities of hosting the delegation.
The community prepared a welcome for January 31. The community board of directors, water board and host families were present to welcome the delegation. The community also organized a goodbye dinner on the last night.
The CoCoDA team, together with CRC, held a post-delegation evaluation meeting on March 13, which served to recognize the good performance of the delegation and share points for improvement.
Medical Rotations
The students completed their rotations at the medical centers three days a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) during the morning.
For each week a different student attended each of the medical centers: Suchitoto Hospital, La Mora Community Clinic, Suchitoto Health Unit and worked with the Suchitoto Midwives Association.
Weekend recreational activities
During the weekends, the delegation enjoyed recreational activities coordinated by the CoCoDA team. On this occasion, they visited places close to the Suchitoto region, but also places in the western part of the country.
These were the places visited:
- Guazapa Volcano
- Suchitlán Lake
- Cinquera Hill
- San Andrés and Tazumal Mayan Ruins
- Santa Ana Volcano
Spanish Lessons
The delegation received Spanish classes during their stay in Suchitoto at the Pájaro Flor Spanish school. The classes were attended during the afternoon from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The students successfully performed their final presentations on medical topics entirely in Spanish, these were the topics of the presentations:
Cystic Fibrosis, by Asif Hossain; Dengue, by Connor Clemens; Preeclampsia, by Kristen Lentsch; Anesthesia Basics, by Logan Reed.
Congratulations on the excellent presentations!
Watch Dr. Kurt Patterson’s video from Indiana University’s ENLACE program on the importance of the student delegate experience:
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