So for the past week I have had the opportunity to work on the surgery team. We had two wonderful surgeons with us. Bart Saxbe is a general surgeon and Randy Kahan is a obstetrics and gynecological surgeon. Most of the surgeries done were herinas and vaginal historectomies.  It was probably the most interesting thing to be a part of because of the situation we were in. We had the luxury of working inside a hospital and using their facilities, which would never happen in the states. No U.S. hospital would let a random group of people come into their facility and bring in your own patients and surgeons without there being some sort of legal problems. At any rate, we were able to get into the hospital, but we still had problems with getting patients into the operating rooms because the surgeons of the hospital took up all the rooms until they were done for the day.  So we didn't get into surgery until 2 in the afternoon and finish at 9 or 10 at night.  This was the case for the first few days, until one of the surgeons put his foot down and was able to get us are own room for the whole day.  Then we were able to get into a groove and really get through a lot of surgeries. From a personal perspective, I was really nervous because I have really no surgery experience and speak little Spanish.  This caused a problem because I was able to scrub into the surgeries and hand them instrument, but I had no idea what the names of them were and the person explaining to me spoke Spanish! Eventually, I was able to learn the names of instrument and techniques from different surgeries.  It was truly a great experience and I am so glad I was apart of it. I am looking forward to the trip to Tulum, which is where the eight of us will be for the second week of the trip.

Lino

Today we were very prepared for the tasks that we had before our group as we medically served the people of Merida. While working in the suburbs of Merida, the Presidents without Borders teams assisted in the treatment of many dental and optometric needs all while helping to run a functional pharmacy. It was very amazing to see the personal level at which we could connect to each and every patient and I am really feeling confident that the following days will continue to be amazing! 

Josiah

Hello everyone!
We had a very long day today. We landed in Merida last night and arrive at our houses in Merida at a little after 1:00am. To clarify for all parents, we are staying in Merida this week, not Xpujil. Link and I are staying in one house, Joe and Josiah in another, and all the girls in a third. This is a large project with over 20 total people on board. We woke up bright and early and put in about 6 hours of clinical work today. After clinic, we went to a town square in Merida to see local dancers. Tomorrow we are starting bright and early and will be off to a new clinical site at 7:30am.

Evan

Preparing for our Departure to Mexico - 8/2/2013

Hello PWBers!

It's Friday, August 2nd, and we will be departing for Xpujil in Campeche Mexico. There will be eight of us going: Myself (Evan Wagner), Cat Zylstra, Tiffany Mayhugh, Lino Ruggeri, Josiah Ritchey, Hannah Morrissey, Brianna Hewitt, and Joe Williams. Our flight leaves at this afternoon from Pittsburgh and we should be arriving in Merida, Mexico in the evening. We will be staying for 2 full weeks and we will be coming home on August 17th. We have preparatory meetings starting at 8:00am on campus tomorrow morning then we are off! We have an excellent team going on this trip and I can't wait to get there and get started!

We will have daily updates, so keep checking back!

See everyone tomorrow,
Evan