Honduras healthcare team opportunity

[bjtmict]

The university I am attending just announced a trip next year to Honduras to work in rural underserved areas providing primary care, family practice, and health screenings. Has anybody participated in one of these trips (I don't know the specific organization we would be associated with)? If so, what is your feeling about it? What were the positives/negatives? I think I would really like to do this, but my husband isn't convinced it's safe or a good idea, any information I can get to help convince him would be greatly appreciated!

[rockymnthoney]

Sadly, the FNP program I will start in November at Georgetown does not offer volunteer trips. After finishing my FNP I plan on pursuing a masters in Global Healthcare which is a PH degree, so that I can get a job with an NGO and work overseas. I have volunteered in Kenya andSalvador, Brazil and will be going to a remote area of Ghana in October. These groups strive to create a safe environment and do not put you in places where you will be in harms way. You can check out travel.state.gov for travel advisories for specific countries

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1135.html

You are more likely to be assaulted in bad neighborhoods in Detroit, Chicago or New Orleans where 1/5 people are the victim of a crime. Stay in groups, don't get publicly intoxicated, don't wear your jewelry and take reliable transit after dark and you will have one of the most enriching experiences you can have as a health care professional. Hope you can go :)!

[mrnightinggale]

I have been to Honduras many times as part of a medical mission team. I will be honest with you. Recently, the city we go to has been named to worst city in the world for violent crime (San Pedro Sula). Murders and kidnappings are frequent and rarely is the killer found and prosecuted. It is all due to the narcotics gangs. That being said, savvy foreigners are not usually the targets (unless you do what the above poster said not to do). If you go with a group that knows what they are doing, I would recommend it. The rewards of going there to do charity work are great and have left a lifetime impression on me. I do plan to go again and my wife is going this fall. Just make sure you educate yourself before you make a decision. The State Department website is a good start. Also, if you go, register your trip online with the State Department.

[guest538567]

I went with my university on a medical trip to Honduras. I was a NP student at the time and we ran a small medical clinic in the coastal Limon area. It was an amazing experience. It was a great opportunity to taste autonomy in the advanced practice role. We treated a bunch of routine acute and chronic illnesses and were also exposed to quite a bit of tropical diseases and treated a ton of malaria (even though the area was not supposed to be endemic at the time). The patients were extremely grateful for our care as the clinic serves as the areas primary health center. There was never a point when I felt unsafe. It is a unique experience and one that I would highly recommend. I haven't had a chance to do mission type work before but certainly will in the future. Good luck.