Some of the best reports from our volunteers discuss the enthusiasm of students at our project sites. One recent volunteer to Bhutan reported of her experience:
I was asked to give a lecture to the nurse anesthetist students about orthopaedic surgery and anatomy. I showed up early on a Saturday morning, and four students crowded around my computer as I went through helpful tips in dealing with orthopaedic patients and important anatomical landmarks. The students were quite receptive and asked a lot of pertinent questions, which is more than I can say for the majority of students at home. However, what was unique about this experience was their eagerness to put the information I gave them to use. Later that day, I overheard one of the students ask the nurse, “did the patient get antibiotics today? What time?,” followed by, “if they are working on the bones, I will hang some antibiotics.” Even later in the day, one of the students asked me if I had any concern for compartment syndrome in our upcoming patient. If so, he planned to delay the regional block to improve our post-operative care.
These students were not only attentive and polite, but they were eager to learn and use this information to help their patients. It gave me great pride to see them in action…the younger people that I worked with in Bhutan were eager to learn from me and were amazingly adept at putting information into practice.”
Reports like these are wonderful examples of the essential role HVO volunteers play. Students of health care in places like Bhutan, Cambodia, Malawi, Honduras and other resource-scarce countries are eager to improve their skills – but they need more access to teachers and information to improve their skills.
Please support efforts to educate these local health care providers and improve global patient care – become a volunteer or make a donation to support our projects.