Free Medical School and Grace's Visit

            We finished the summer stream of short-term groups a couple of weeks ago with a group from VCOM (the medical school I’ve blogged about), and what a week it was! I must say it was my favorite week of the summer, but I’m biased because Grace was here!

            I love VCOM brigades for a different list of reasons than the others. They bring a coordinator that takes care of all of the details that I do when I’m "in charge", so I get to spend the week translating. They see less patients so that the attending physicians can take time to teach the baby docs, as I like to call them… (also known as first year med students.) It’s basically free medical school without having taken biochem or mammalian or physics. Yahtzee. (Don't be too jealous; does not come with credentials).

            This group had some obstacles to deal with, and dealt with them with grace. Long story short, their flights were messed up which resulted in them arriving so late that they missed their first briade day. That meant Tuesday they had to split up and go to the two separate villages and see twice as many patients as normal. They were all exhausted, but worked hard. If they complained I didn’t hear it.

            Thankfully, Grace was able to stay for a few days after the group left. After a busy summer, some good sister time was just what my soul needed! It was the first time one of my best friends has been here during an actual brigade, so I really loved getting to share in the experience of mission-work-from-the-other-side with her. Also, her constant astonishment at my ability to speak Spanish was probably good for my self-esteem.