Education
Medical Education for Students

INTERNATIONAL MEDICINE SPECIAL ELECTIVE: HONDURAS

General Objective:

To provide a valuable cultural competence curriculum to medical students and participants from other IUPUI schools as well as residents and fellows that will prepare them for both their future practices and for daily encounters with the growing Latino population seeking medical care in Indianapolis.

Educational objectives:

During and after this experience students will be able to:

1. Describe principles of public health, tropical medicine, and community development learned during their experience in urban and rural communities of Honduras.

2. Apply medical Spanish learned in a four week immersion in culture and language experience.

3. Compare clinical practice in developing countries to the USA.

4. Describe clinical skills acquired/strengthened in an assay format at the end of their experience.

Description:

A four weeks immersion experience in both urban and rural Honduras.

Week 1
One to two day orientation including travel medicine, medical Spanish and culture before departure.

One week IUSM Department of Family Medicine team work in Las Lajas, Honduras twice a year. Experience clinical work at mountain villages and perform school physical at local schools.
(Team – 2-3 faculty/1faculty fellow, 1 or 2 residents, 3- 6 students)

Week 2, 3 and 4
After the first week students will go to Spanish school for two to 3 weeks in Trujillo ( school arrangements include lodging and meals) or to their selected sites if fluent in Spanish to complete rotation.

Sites include Hospital Escuela (PICU, ER, Pediatric Medicine), Hospital Evangelico,Siguatepeque (rural clinic, mobile clinic and outpatient/inpatient experience including Obstetrics and Surgery), Las Lajas/Taulabe (rural clinic/general medicine), Trujillo (community hospital/general specialties and rural clinic).

Evaluation:

Rotation director at each site will be in charge of evaluation of students’ participation/performance and progress as well as student own evaluation . Bilingual staff is available at most sites and two US graduates at the Siguatepeque site.

Students’ lecture discussions presented during the first week of rotation will be evaluated by IU faculty and other team members.