Hello Everyone!
I am happy to inform you that I have returned safely to Minnesota! I have been eager to send you an update on the events that took place this summer in Honduras. First of all, thank you for your patience with my lack of communication via the blog site I created. Internet was much more limited than expected during my stay in La Ceiba. I’ll begin summarizing the EWH summer program. Then, I’d like to go back and review what was covered in Costa Rica and then finally get into my most recent experiences. The purpose of the Engineering World Health (EWH) Duke University Summer Institute is to assist less fortunate hospitals in developing countries by bringing together the knowledge of instructors and bright students from across the globe. EWH provides engineering, physics, and chemistry students with hands-on experience troubleshooting and repairing medical equipment and an opportunity to enhance their Spanish-speaking skills. The first month of the 2011 Summer Institute consisted of a technical and language training program in San Pedro, San Jose, Costa Rica. This month aimed to provide students with sufficient background information on medical devices and their associated common modes of failure. In particular, students were educated on the circumstances in specific developing world hospitals and trained in medical instrumentation topics via hands-on lab exercises that focused on power supplies, circuits, and troubleshooting. Students were further prepared for work within hospitals through Spanish language lessons geared towards technical terminology and medical device presentations. In addition to the classroom setting training, students traveled each week with an instructor to surrounding hospitals in Costa Rica to tour the hospital and gain familiarity with testing devices and performing basic repairs on medical equipment. Following all required preparations, students were partnered with another engineering student or recent graduate and relocated to a developing world hospital in either Nicaragua or Honduras. Kathryn and I spent a total of four weeks in La Ceiba working with the biomedical technician on-site to assess the priority of each piece of broken equipment, perform the repairs, and translate essential manuals. As a team, several pieces of medical equipment were put back into service such as incubators, infusion pumps, defibrillators, a ventilator, an electrocardiogram, and an electrosurgery unit. These repairs were accomplished by completing 3 main tasks which include troubleshooting the devices, creating user and calibration manuals in Spanish, and working with doctors and nurses to assess and prioritize the specific needs within each ward. We were able to assist the hospital through non-technical projects such as creating portable privacy curtains for patient rooms in 3 different wards. Furthermore, participants participated in research to benefit the development of the BMET training program offered by Duke University. The first month, and training segment, of the EWH-Duke Summer Institute took place in San Jose, San Pedro, Costa Rica at a local Spanish school. On the first day of classes, each participant was assessed verbally and placed in a language class based on his/her current Spanish speaking and comprehension level and previous experience. We attended classes regularly Monday through Thursday for 4 weeks. The Spanish language classes were held during the first 4 hours of each day. The classes aimed to help us advance significantly with our Spanish communication skills by focusing on a minimum of 10 different tenses while placing an emphasis on technical verbs and terminology. The most imperative verbs tenses learned in each Spanish level included present, future, conditional, and various forms of past tense. In order to further enhance speaking skills, we were each assigned a specific medical device and instructed to present to the class in Spanish about the device, the common associated problems, and device testing procedures. I was placed in the Level 3 Spanish classes, and I presented on the Electrosurgery Unit (ESU. In addition, daily homework was assigned that focused on using technical vocabulary and writing instructions for a manual or quick start guide. I lived with a designated host family and 3 other young women. We were expected to converse with their families on a daily basis in order to enhance conversation skills. During the last day of lessons we practiced our skills by learning various songs and participating in competitive verb exercises. Furthermore, while conducting laboratory exercises, we were asked to answer questions in Spanish and converse with lab partners regarding the tools being used and the procedures being executed to complete the lab. The second segment of each day consisted of lectures focusing on the basic functions and components of medical devices, their associated common problems, and methods to troubleshoot and test the devices. In general, there are topics every engineer must be familiar with when working with any piece of medical equipment. Therefore, broader topics that apply to all devices were first covered such as electrical safety and troubleshooting procedures. A wide variety of devices were presented to us during the lectures. However, devices that most developing countries either cannot afford or are unavailable were not covered in great detail. A strong emphasis was placed on the devices that students will most likely encounter and the devices that commonly fail. For example, we were able to gain hands-on experience with a centrifuge, ESU, pulse oximeter, defibrilator, ventilator, and an anesthesia machine. The tutorials with these devices involved disassembling the equipment, viewing vital components within the device such as the battery and/or power sources, and answering what to do in simulated situations. In order to prepare us for the lectures and laboratories, readings were assigned daily on medical equipment, common problems, testing procedures, as well as lab purposes and procedures. Furthermore, our progress was recorded via regular assessments on the assigned readings. My greatest technical learning experience was creating a variable power supply. I am so excited that I was able to gain some experience working with circuits. It really helped me understand the things I have learned in my previous coursework. Now, onto Honduras… Needless to say, I had no idea what to expect when I arrived in La Ceiba. I was definitely ready to leave Costa Rica and move on to the next phase of the program. Even with the training program, there was no way to be fully prepared for what I was about to experience. During my month in Honduras I lived with the biomedical technician, his wife and 2 children, the maid and her 8-month-old baby, and my assigned partner, Kathryn. Kathryn and I shared a room and a bathroom within our room. If there were any initial issues with shyness, we adjusted rather quickly. It was a very intimate living situation, mostly because a curtain blocked off our bathroom and bathing area. The family and entire colonia did not have running water during our stay, so we used buckets of water to bathe. Our host family was extremely generous. Our host mom and maid kept us well fed and tried to adjust to our likings. Our host mom's brother and family were kind enough to include us in family picnics and a beach outing. This was such a blessing for me considering my spending money was very limited. The maid's baby, Andrea, was quite possibly the cutest baby I have ever seen. While it took her a while to warm up to us, she was all smiles once she did. The house was about 3-4 miles from the hospital we were working at. For the privacy of the hospital, I won’t go into too much detail on the conditions of the hospital. I will say, however, that Kathryn and I worked on about 20 different pieces of medical equipment, and we gained so much confidence from learning to communicate with the hospital staff. When we met the director and several doctors during the first day, we learned that an incubator was out of service and staff was eager to return the device to working status. We quickly acquired the device and proceeded to disassemble it and thoroughly clean it. Following the cleaning and alignment checks, the machine we reassembled and tested it. Kathryn and I realized that staff was unaware of the various alarm checks, so we decided to make an abbreviated user manual. This decision was a significant step towards gaining the trust of the hospital staff. When the incubator was returned and the nurses and doctors were shown the manual and instructions for proper cleaning and storage, we were shown additional pieces of medical equipment and were able to schedule a meeting with one of the doctors. This really got the ball rolling to say the least. After the doctors were aware of our presence, they contacted us directly to ask for assistance with repairs. As with any city, there were several safety issues in La Ceiba. La Ceiba is a port town, a connection point for tourists traveling to the Bay Islands. That being said, locals are used to tourists passing through and therefore target them for robberies. When Kathryn and I took a trip to the beach, we were unfortunately robbed. Most of our possessions were taken. Needless to say, our sense of security was shaken up for most of the rest of the month. After we were robbed, we stopped walking home from work and decided to take taxis to all of our destinations. After a few safety issues, Kathryn and I stopped running in the mornings and resorted to strength workouts inside our room. It was difficult for me personally to regain my sense of security throughout the month, and I sure was disappointed about not being able to run! I'm sure my insecurity was partially due to not being culturally accustomed to seeing men walk in the streets with machetes. However, this is normal in Honduran culture, as machetes are needed for daily fieldwork. I have absolutely no regrets about my decision to participate in this program, even though I encountered several challenges. I would love to share more about I how grew in my faith with those of you who are interested. Therefore, I will be individually sending you separate updates soon. Also, I have recently submitted a research paper for the directed study credit I received for completing the program. If you are interested in reading it, please contact me, and I will be more than happy to share it with you! Again, thank you for your support! I will be sure to post some additional photos from my time in Honduras. Blessings, Kara
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Hello from Honduras!
I am writing this post to inform everyone that I do not have internet access that is easily accessible. The conditions here are a little different than I expceted. A brief update - Katheryn and I are making some significant headway with meeting with doctors/nurses and looking at equipment. We were able to put an incubator back into use last week and create manuals in Spanish. The doctors were very appreciativ and have been showing us more and more broken equipment. Next week we will be interviewing one of the doctors. The hospital we are at has moved since last year's program, so we have plenty of work cut out for us to try and take down as many notes as possible. Church - Tonight we are going to church with our host mom! I am very excited. The church is outside with music and dancing! I am sorry for the lack of internet connection. I will post pictures and a full report on my experiences when I return! Until then, thank you for your continued support, and I am very eager to share with you all. Best, Kara The preparation stage is quickly coming to an end! We have 4 more days of classes, and we will all part ways this Saturday (to either Nicaragua or Honduras). I am definitely ready to get started at my hospital - I'm eager to see what we come across. I feel the real learning will take place once we start encountering problems on site.
Last week's lab highlight: Kathryne and I took a phone charger power supply and created the circuit for a variable power supply. It was very exciting for me to see how each part of the circuit contributes to the overall goal. In the past I have learned the schematics of such circuits, but I had never fully grasped what was going on. This project was a huge learning experience for me. I believe it is also one of the most applicable things we have completed thus far. Many times we will need to convert/connect variable power supplies to the devices we encounter. Our Spanish teacher also came around while we were working to gauge our Spanish progress. We have been learning specific technical terms, so she was looking to see how well we could communicate what we were doing in Spanish. I was very happy to be able to answer her questions! I am excited with how much Spanish I can understand, and the speaking is coming along slowly, but surely. Time sure is flying! I can't believe it's already the 17th of June... My days have been jam packed to say the least. Each day feels like a week squeezed into 24 hours. Hopefully I don't miss too many details!
Spanish lessons are going well for the most part. It is really good to review many things that are a bit fuzzy after 4 years of no practice with my Spanish. I am really enjoying the hands on lab work we are doing. I have studied circuits before and some theory behind a lot of the things we are looking at, but I have never actually sat down and seen how something works. It makes things much more clear, so that's exciting! I am loving learning about actual devices. It's something we don't cover directly in school back home. The best part is the hospital visits where we can actually open up the devices and see some things being fixed. Today we looked at an electrosurgery unit. Ric (our lecturer) found a connection that was missing and we were able to see him fix it. Afterwards, I was able to test it out! It is very exciting to see a direct application of all of the things I have been learning in school. It is interesting seeing how others are giong about communicating with the technicians - excellent practice for next month. It is way more challenging than I could have imagined, but it is a really exciting challenge. The people are so kind and some have simply never been shown how to work on some of the devices. Personal notes - Last weekend we took a trip to Monteverde!!! It is one of the most beautiful, lush places I have ever seen. I am staying in San Jose this weekend. Some of the guys and I are going to do a Bible study in the morning after I squeeze in a long run! I am so encouraged to find people of faith within the program. God sure is providing me with outlets to stay strong, so thank you everyone for your prayers! Everything sure has been moving along quickly! Last Wednesday I left for Costa Rica. Of course, I had no idea what to expect upon arrival and in general. When I arrived my host mom and dad picked me up from the school and brought me to their house. From the first night all I have heard is Spanish! No English is spoken at home. Because of this, I experienced a little bit of shock, but nothing I couldn't get over in a day or two :) i am staying with 3 other girls in the EWH program. We all seem to be pretty like-minded, so the living situation is quite nice even though there are 4 of us sqeezed into 1 little room. Our host mom cooks us breakfast and dinner and does our laundry - now this is something I am definitely not used to again!
The first couple days of classes (Thursday and Friday) were pretty relaxed because our normal routine won't actually start until tomorrow (Monday). During the morning of the first day we were briefly evaluated and placed into our language level. I was placed in the third group (out of 4). We also went over several orientation things including safety and everything in between. Crime can be a bit of an issue here, so I think our instructor wanted to make sure we were over prepared. So far we have completed 2 real labs. The first one convered basic multimeter measurements as well as some material with resistors. In the second lab, Kathryn (my partner) and I made an extension cord. For our first lecture, J.J. lectured because our actual teacher has not yet made it into the country. Tomorrow everything will really pick up at school! Yesterday we took a trip to go white water rafting! This surpased any expectations I could have possibly had. It was so nice to get away from the city, and into the mountains! I really can't properly describe the trip because words will never do it justice, but I will attempt to in a nutshell... The river was lined with rainforest beauty that stretch high up. There were many cliffs and waterfalls as well. The rapids were, to say the least, intense. I was thrown from the raft not once, but twice during the trip, which was a little scary, but I was pulled out relatively quickly. I can't say I was expecting that to happy! We also jumped from a cliff into the river! It was an overall intense trip, but amazing. I really couldn't have asked for a better trip. My friends and I have explored some around the city. I am overwhelmed (in a good way) with all of the cultural differences! I can't wait to really get going on the language lessons tomorrow morning. I knew this program would be challenging, but now I am seeing how I need to communicate on technical issues in Spanish. This is a little intimidating, but also really, really exciting! I am really enjoying everyone, and I am adjusting quickly. More to come as things move along! Thanks for reading, and thank you for your continued suppo My boyfriend James and I have been enjoying our time together these last few weeks. A couple of weeks ago we conquered a 40-50 mile bike ride around lake Minnetonka, and last week we completed a 50 mile hike in the Boundary Waters.
Needless to say, it still doesn't feel like I'm leaving soon - but I guess that's always the case when I travel. I'm sure it will hit me on the plane... A few days ago I received my shipment of medical kit things to take with me - this sure helped to make everything feel a bit more real. I leave tonight for Wisconsin (home) to visit family and then head down to Chicago to fly out. I'm still finishing up packing believe it or not! I am excited because yesterday I found ad $20 small guitar that I will be able to take with me! There will be many more updates coming soon - from Costa Rica!!! I received the last of my vaccinations today! I have to say, passing out is well worth the orange juice and awesome bandaids that I got. Yet another step closer to being prepared to leave June 1! All of my preparations are really coming together. Today I will be talking with my OTGC to be - the person who will be my "go to" on site at my hospital. Currently I am doing my best to raise a little more funding to cover my living expenses while abroad. More updates will be posted soon!
Last week the University of Minnesota hosted the Design of Medical Devices Conference where technical sessions and poster presentations take place. I had the privilege of attending Professor Robert Malkin's presentation.
Professor Malkin is a co-founder of EWH and a professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University. He is also the director for my summer program. It was very exciting for me to gain some more background knowledge on EWH during his talk, and it was motivating to be reminded of the need for assistance in developing countries. Here are some interesting facts I learned.
I was able to meet Professor Malkin after his presentation. He provided me with several pieces of advice about the program this summer and about starting up an EWH chapter at the University of Minnesota. A few of my peers and I believe an EWH chapter at the U is an excellent idea! One of the purposes of the chapter would be to build medical kits and ship them to hospitals in developing countries. I am still exploring how to go about creating a chapter, but it seems like a very achievable goal. On a more personal note, I was very excited to meet Jami at the conference. She is a current student at Bethel University. We have so much in common in terms of our interests in engineering, EWH, and our faith in God. It was so encouraging to meet Jami. What a God-send! I look forward to getting to know her better. Additionally, my fundraising goal is nearly met! A huge thanks to Professor Tranquillo for helping me secure a few significant donations from local companies. Another thanks to the United Methodist Church of the Pines for their continued support and decision to include me in their monthly newsletter. Check out the Supporters tab for the most up to date information on all of my wonderful supporters! Biomedical Engineering Degree Update: My courses have been approved for my emphasis in Medical Device Design. Here is the remainder of my course plan! Summer 2011: Directed Study credit for EWH summer program, Medtronic Internship full-time Fall 2011: Senior Design I, Project Management, Designing Experiments, Medtronic Internship part-time Spring 2012: Senior Design II, Advanced Biomedical Transport Processes, Biomedical MEMS, Computer Assisted Product Realization, possible part-time continuation with Medtronic This semester I was constantly faced with the decision of participating in EWH or getting an internship at Medtronic (http://www.medtronic.com). I applied for EWH over winter break, and went through the interviewing process with Medtronic. I was pretty sure the opportunity with Medtronic had passed, and I felt I was meant to be in Central America this summer. I booked my flights in the evening, and two mornings later I received a phone call from Medtronic indicating that they were very interested in hiring me and would like to interview me again. I went through with the interview with them knowing about my opportunity with EWH. We talked one more time after then second interview, and I was told that they thought I would be a really good fit for the team! I figured if they really thought I was best for the job, maybe the rules could be changed a bit for me (the summer associate position usually runs June-August, the months I will be in Central America), so I asked if it would be possible to start later and explained to them why participating in EWH would make me an even better cadidate. Sure enough, yesterday I received a job offer to start and August and work part-time through the entire year! I accepted on the spot. I never thought doing both was even an option...
The position at Medtronic is within the Structural Heart division. It is a very people oriented position, and it will enable me to use my engineering knowledge. Two other branches are located in Mexico, so some meetings will be in Spanish. EWH will prepare me so much for this job! So there you have it. You really can have your cake and eat it too... Flights: I just booked my flights!!! Here is my itinerary.
June 1, 2011: AA 2321 ORD Chicago to DFW Dallas June 1, 2011: AA 2167 DFW Dallas to SJO San Jose July 31, 2011: AA 954 TGU Tegucigalpa to MIA Miami August 1, 2011: AA 453 MIA Miami to ORD Chicago I will be spending the night in a hostel in Miami on my way home! Overnight connecting flight may not be so bad after all! Secondary Tasks: In addition, participants were asked to come up with Secondary Task Ideas. "Your hospital will undoubtedly have needs beyond biomedical endeavors, and some of their needs may surprise you. Although your main focus is to work with medical equipment, you may find that the hospital needs you in other ways, and it is perfectly acceptable to meet those needs as well. REMEMBER: Your goal is to contribute to the hospital as much as you can, even if it is not engineering-related. If you choose to complete what we call “secondary tasks,” EWH is prepared to cover the expenses of these tasks to some extent, and we encourage your creativity and resourcefulness in these endeavors. Though you are unfamiliar with the needs of your hospital, please brainstorm and come up with 3-5 non-technical ways in which you might be able to help your hospital. Secondary Project IdeasThese ideas will be reviewed for appropriateness and compiled with previous years' project ideas for further brainstorming during the first month". 1. Paint: I love to paint! I would be happy to complete artwork for my hospital and/or do artwork projects with patients. 2. Donations: If I am financially stable when I arrive at my hospital, I would like to make further donations to my designated hospital. 3. Activities with children: I love spending time with children and would love to prepare activities to for patients within the children's ward. 4. Events: I would love to brainstorm ideas for events that we could potentially host such as a game night interested patients. The patients may need some hope and/or normalcy in their lives, and we could help by providing some social events. |
AuthorKara Mendez Archives
August 2011
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