Jennifer Villarreal is a final-year PharmD candidate at the University of the Incarnate Word Feik School of Pharmacy.
Our health professional schools at the University of the Incarnate Word invite students in its mission to serve through an annual effort of the Quijotes of San Antonio. This group, founded in 1989, led by physicians, nurses, and the Sisters of the Incarnate Word, sets up a weeklong clinic in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. The clinic, in collaboration with the local Mexican government, offers services in optometry, physical therapy, nutrition, general medicine, pediatric medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy to its community for free.
I was lucky enough to participate in this mission trip as an APPE student this past September.
A new workflow
The clinic was set up at a local school campus, where we arrived on Monday morning and got to work organizing our medication stock on the empty shelves set up in a classroom. Then, as our physicians began to see patients, the prescriptions started coming in. Patients would visit the different health care teams based on the referrals they were given and then walk over to the pharmacy as their last stop to pick up medications before going home.
The workflow of our pharmacy was unlike what I am used to, with handwritten labels and physical prescriptions. Most medications were for acute illness like infections or pain as well as long-term treatment with metformin or inhalers. As the pharmacists on our team filled and verified, the other students and I counseled patients. The teach back method was especially important for these patients, as this was the only time that we had to answer questions and review directions with them. We spent time explaining maximum doses, up titrations, and administration. For example, patients on metformin were counseled on possible GI upset and to slowly titrate up to the highest possible dose without exceeding the daily maximum.
Patient gratitude
Our clinic saw about 500 patients every day that week, with a total of 2,266 prescriptions. There were challenges along the way, from flight delays early on to long workdays, illegible prescriptions, and complicated translations, but the impact of that weeklong mission trip is one I will never forget.
The kindness of the people we served and their gratitude motivated us to give our best despite every challenge. It was so special, taking the time to talk to each patient in their own language and at their own pace. We received many handshakes, blessings, and kind words.
The value of this experience
This experience allowed me to adapt to a new system with its unique challenges and to learn from a community with rich culture and customs. I will not say that this mission trip was easy; in fact, it was one of the biggest learning curves so far in my APPEs. But I would encourage student pharmacists to look for similar opportunities to serve, whether in a multiprofessional mission trip or health clinics in our own communities.
Giving our time to these opportunities as we train to become pharmacists allows us to grow while impacting the health of those we care for.