Student Pharmacist Reflects on Medical Mission in Honduras

Global medical brigade takes classroom knowledge to the world stage

By William Albanese III
March 9, 2010

As students at one of the nation’s preeminent learning institutions, University of Maryland student pharmacists dedicate an extraordinary number of hours to academic study. However, every now and then, we are given a chance to show others what we are capable of and our skill set impresses not only those around us, but sometimes we even surprise ourselves with the depth of knowledge that was painstakingly imparted upon us.

I was recently invited by the Penn State Medical Brigade, along with former School of Pharmacy resident, Nicholas Leon, PharmD ’09, to accompany their students to Honduras on a medical mission. Since Honduras is mired in poverty, and over half of the population lives more than 20 miles from any medical professional, help from outside nations is always welcome in the country. It was here, in the rural hillsides of Honduras under the auspices of a local doctor, that students are allowed to utilize the full extent of their skill sets.

When the team of students arrived in Tegucigalpa, we hit the ground running. That very night medications were packaged into regimen specific dosing and labels written in Spanish were affixed to each bag. Everything was packed into easy-to-move suitcases and last minute lessons were given for those unsure of certain medical information and language.

For three days, our group completed a rigorous medical mission that can best be described by the numbers:
Thirty-four students traveled 400 miles (645km), gave out 30,000 multivitamins, brushed 225 mouths, extracted over 300 teeth, revised one formulary, saw 1,438 patients, referred two patients for skin cancer, dispensed 4,132 prescriptions, screened roughly 500 patients for blood pressure, and played one intense game of tag with children from the local orphanage.

Acting as director of pharmacy for the trip, I had to quickly make therapeutic interchanges on the spot after being given a diagnosis from the doctors. As students, we were also forced to use our knowledge of alternative therapies when certain medications became short in the field. Oral fluconazole rapidly became the new standard for fungal infections when topical clotrimazole was exhausted, famotidine was given out when omeprazole supplies were depleted, and diphenhydramine dosing was constantly being changed to accommodate the sleep-weary patient over the one in need of an anti-histamine.

As the trip ended and we began to drive to the airport, I reflected on the experience and realized that I could see every class in the curriculum at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy inherent in each action I performed while in Honduras. Whether it was Dr. Wilkes testing us to ensure we dosed Bactrim based on trimethoprim, Dr. Love elevating our ethical code to ensure we “do no harm,” Dr. Layson-Wolf covering every inch of the body in our physical assessments, or Dr. Moreton describing all of the anticholenergic effects of oxybutynin so we could pass them on to patients as counseling points, each professor’s hard pressing exams had been completely justified in my mind. And for all of the blood, sweat, and tears we go through as students, the patients of Honduras will continue to reap the benefits of our well-rounded studies.

William Albanese III is a third-year student pharmacist at the School of Pharmacy.