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News Briefs... April 2, 2004 "IU Physicians, Students Forge Bonds With Hondurans"
“Our overall goal is to improve the quality of life for the underserved populations in rural Honduras, especially for the elderly and children,” says project director Javier F. Sevilla Martir, M.D., assistant professor of clinical medicine. “Both of these groups are at particular risk for malnutrition, anemia, and other illnesses associated with extreme poverty.” Only a small percentage of Honduras’ 6 million people have access to health care of any kind. Most Hondurans cannot afford doctors, medications or transportation to health care facilities, which may be located far from where they live. Dr. Sevilla, a native of Honduras, is leading a six-member team of medical faculty, residents, and students to that Central American nation in early April. They will work with Honduran health professionals for a week in Las Lajas, a community in the south of the country, and then labor at selected rural and urban clinics throughout the country. Three of the students, all of whom graduate from the IU School of Medicine on May 9, will complete rotations honing education and clinical skills in areas such as obstetrics/gynecology, general and tropical medicine, and general pediatrics and pediatric intensive care. Department of Family Medicine faculty and students have traveled to Honduras on other occasions. During a visit in October 2003, IU Family Medicine Chair Douglas B. McKeag, M.D., M.S.; Gaylen M. Kelton, M.D., medical director of the IU-Methodist Family Practice Center; and Dr. Sevilla met with the Surgeon General of Honduras, who expressed interest in the establishment of the Family Medicine residency program and issued a letter of support. To advance the program, the IU Department of Family Medicine will continue to work as a consultant to develop a family medicine residency program in Honduras and help establish family medicine as a core area of study for medical students in that country. “The support of the IU School of Medicine and academic medicine professionals in Honduras, plus the ability to procure and transport donations of medical equipment and other supplies from Indianapolis to rural communities in Honduras, is an integrative model that offers wonderful opportunities for participation and growth,” Dr. Sevilla says.
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INDIANAPOLIS
– Nearly 1,800 miles separate the Hoosier capital from Honduras, but
physicians and medical students are working to bridge that distance
and the two cultures through a new program at the Indiana University
School of Medicine. The Indiana University Department of Family
Medicine has established the International Medicine Honduras Project
in partnership with the Honduran government and physicians there.
The project focuses on cross-cultural medical education and
providing clinical, research, and outreach opportunities for IU
medical students and residents.