Jonathan - Safe and Sound!

Quick post: We're in Nicaragua... Managua to be specific. Head to our clinic site tomorrow morning. Now we're to meet with one of the FIMRC people for a brief orientation. More to come...

Jonathan

Jonathan - The Countdown Begins!

Only a few more days until the view from the commute changes from people ice fishing on a local river to people searching for shade to escape the heat. (Sometimes it's easy to forget what it feels like to be hot, you know?) Last year, when we went to Costa Rica, it was a little crazy preparing, since we had never been on an international medical trip before. This time, it's been crazy, but for slightly different reasons.

Neil, Libby, and Jonathan participate in the craziness...

You see, the clinics where we will be working in Nicaragua and El Salvador have specifically requested the donation of first aid kits, as well as instructors in first aid. That's all fine and good, but we didn't find out about this until just a week or two ago. Imagine trying to get nine people scattered literally from coast-to-coast to all focus on one task and get things done. Not to mention that those nine people are probably either spending 60 hours a week in the hospital because they're on a rotation, or they're spending more nights in hotels away from home than in their own beds because they're busy interviewing.

Neil and Libby sorting supplies

But, things are on the verge of pulling through. We've collected donations for and purchased the vast majority of the ingredients we need for first aid kits, and we've assembled most of them. Saginaw apparently hasn't seen this high of a demand for calamine lotion in quite some time, though, since we've bought out several stores and still are lacking some.

Jonathan holding a completed kit, with one of several bins of donations we'll take with us

Just a few more days, though, and ready or not, we'll hit the road. And those few days should fly by. Libby's got a few more interviews to fill her time, and I'll be her designated chauffeur. Then we'll be off! Nicaragua for 2 weeks, El Salvador for 2 weeks, and then back to good old Saginaw.

I suppose that would've been a wise way to start this blog - a brief introduction of the trip. For anyone who doesn't know, Libby and I will be going to Central America for four weeks on a rotation for medical school. We'll be working at FIMRC (Foundation for the International Medical Relief of Children) clinics in each location. We'll be travelling with our classmates Neil and Alisha, while four of our other classmates will be doing the reverse of our trip (two weeks in El Salvador and then 2 in Nicaragua). Still another classmate will be spending his four weeks at a FIMRC clinic in Uganda.

Anyhow, one of the major tasks left to be done is making our prioritized list of residency programs so that hopefully we can match in March. That's what I'm going to do now. More to come, from a significantly warmer land.

Jonathan