travel, public health, clean water, & pediatric medical clinics
Healthcare for All
Our Work
Below you will see a brief summary of the projects I am currently working on with Extra Mile Pediatrics and One Atta Time. These will go a long way in reducing basic preventable diseases in a way that we take for granted each day.
01
Pediatric Medical Clinics and Vision Screenings
Four times a year Extra Mile Pediatrics travels to Guatemala and El Salvador to do Pediatric Medical Clinics where they see the same patients on a recurring basis. They are addressing foundational health issues, such as nutrition, growth, and development. While they are prepared to treat acute issues, such as cough, wheeze, infection, rash, etc, the emphasis is on the drivers that affect the foundational health issues of an entire community. They do this by being invested in and repeatedly returning to these communities. This facilitates relationship building, earns trust, and allows them to learn about the nuances of each community’s specific set of barriers to good health and healthcare, thereby effectively limiting such factors. They also just launched a vision screening tool that will allow them to screen each child who has suspected vision impairments and through their contacts, they are able to provide those who need it with glasses. This could mean the difference between a child staying in school or not.
02
Clean Water Filters
Through a partnership with Filters of Hope, Extra Mile Pediatrics has been able to provide members of the communities in El Salvador clean water filters that will last an entire family 10 years. This alone could change the trajectory of entire communities when it comes to waterborne illnesses that are easily preventable. In July, 2023, I will launch our first water filter project in Guatemala with the help of One Atta Time, and it is our goal to distribute filters to every family who comes to our pediatric medical clinic.
03
Telehealth
Extra Mile Pediatrics is in the planning and initial implementation stages of providing their patients with a telehealth service that will give them access to physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. For some kids, this could mean the difference between being able to walk for the first time, for others it could mean staying in school. For those children that need these therapies, we want to be able to provide it to them with the help of members of the community, whether this be contacting our therapists or plugging them in with therapists local to their area.
04
Health Promotion
By working with local members of the communities - doctors, nurses, health promotors - we are able to gain a better understanding of the communities we are serving and what we need to provide or facilitate. We are also learning how we can empower them to do their part. Through our local contacts, we are able to provide vaccines these children wouldn't receive otherwise. We will be working with local clinics to schedule mothers for PAP smears and necessary Gynecological exams and are in the process of developing a screening tool that will better assist our teens and young women with getting the proper care they need.
