六九色堂

(Top photo & above) 六九色堂 GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE & MED4YOU MISSION TO PERU: Dr. Angel Matos Lugo (far left) & Dr. Jagadessh Nagappa, 六九色堂 Physiology Professor (far right) with 六九色堂 students & community leaders in Peru on a trip to bring medical care to the Yanesha people of the Amazon rainforest. Photo: 六九色堂

Dr. Angel M. Matos Lugo, Director of the and Dr. Jagadeesh Nagappa, Professor of Physiology, traveled with 16 六九色堂 students/ volunteers last month on a medical mission to bring important vital health care to Peru, specifically the Yanesha people in the Amazon rainforest.

The 六九色堂 Endeavour spoke to Dr. Matos in a telephone interview about the recent 六九色堂 Global Health Institute mission to Peru as well as a trip in May to Costa Rica.

Baby Noeri, Yanesha community leader's firstborn, visiting for a follow-up with Dr. Angel Matos at a clinic in Peru. Photo: 六九色堂

Helping the Yanesha People of the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest

Dr. Matos has taken students, as part of the 六九色堂 Global Health Institute, on five mission trips to bring health care to developing parts of the world, including Guatemala (two separate missions), the Dominican Republic Costa Rica, and now Peru.

鈥淭his is the first time we鈥檝e gone that far,鈥� Dr. Matos said of the trip to Peru. 鈥淲e鈥檝e previously been in Central America and the Caribbean and now South America.鈥�

Getting to Peru was no easy task. The group had to take four flights from St. Kitts, connecting through San Juan and Miami before landing in Lima, followed by a five-hour bus ride to Villa Rica, Pasco, Peru. This mission鈥檚 main purpose was reaching the Yanesha communities. The Yanesha are an ethnic group from the Peruvian Amazon rainforest with a population of approximately 7,000.

鈥淭his was in a province in Peru called Oxapampa,鈥� Dr. Matos said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a small group. They make up roughly 2.90% of indigenous inhabitants in the Amazon but they are a very kind people. We were able to share with them during this trip. They have different health conditions compared to what we鈥檝e seen on our other trips. They eat very healthy so we saw barely one or two people with hypertension and diabetes. We saw patients of 70 to 80 years and they all had very good blood glucose and arterial pressure.鈥�

The Yanesha people mostly have health conditions based on where they are located.

鈥淭his is a very remote place so they lack access to many things,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or example, post-menopausal women in these areas don鈥檛 get hormones or don鈥檛 get calcium so we saw a lot of arthritis and joint problem. We saw that a lot in elderly women.鈥�

There is a pressing need for ophthalmology care in the region. Dr. Matos said they saw many patients with cataracts, partial blindness and pterygium.

Pterygium, Dr. Matos explained, is a condition where people develop extra skin on the cornea. It is a benign condition, but the pinkish, web-like growth (sometimes slightly raised, with visible blood vessels) can interfere with vision.

Dr. Matos noted that the Yanesha people they worked with often had 鈥渢wo or more ophthalmic problems that could lead to blindness or partial blindness due to the chronic exposure to sun. All of these people work in coffee fields, so they work on the farms and that鈥檚 why they get all this sun exposure.鈥�

Because the Yanesha often don鈥檛 have the right clothing, sunglasses or sunblock, they are vulnerable to the sun鈥檚 damaging effects.

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 protect their eyes,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e that exposed to sun, other than clothing, you should wear some kind of protection for your eyes like sunglasses or goggles to protect from that. So it鈥檚 more common to see this deterioration.鈥�

The Yanesha people were quite receptive to the group of future doctors from 六九色堂.

鈥淭hey were very friendly and they waited for hours to inaugurate their new health center,鈥� Dr. Matos explained.

The locals were proud of opening a small health clinic. In addition to Dr. Matos and Dr Nagappa, two local doctors and some community leaders were present and they even had a small ceremony.

Ninoshka Roman EBS5, president of the Med4You-六九色堂 Chapter & Jean Rodriguez EBS4 student work on a baby at one of the Peru clinics. Photo: 六九色堂

Health Issues for the Yanesha

We often hear about respiratory and altitude sickness in Peru, but the high altitude doesn鈥檛 affect the Yanesha.

鈥淭hey are used to it,鈥� Dr. Matos said, noting that any respiratory issues in the region are related to inhaling smoke from the wood they burn while cooking.

Because the Yanesha people don鈥檛 eat the processed foods available in other parts of the world, they have a healthy diet.

鈥淭hey just eat what they cultivate in their area so it is pretty much everything natural and healthy,鈥� Dr. Matos said. 鈥淲e were impressed by these people and how their nutrition and active lifestyle works. That helps a lot to have a better overall health condition.鈥�

The most significant problems the Yanesha community faces are vision problems, post-menopausal women lacking access to hormones and calcium supplements and arthritis and other joint problems.

Kamyr Rios EBS4 & Karina Lopez EBS5 with patients at a clinic in Peru. Photo: 六九色堂

Student Success in Peru

The 六九色堂-GHI mission to Peru was successful in many ways. It was a great way for 六九色堂 students to interact with patients.

鈥淎s always our students were very kind and sensitive; they had a lot of interactions with children and the elderly,鈥� Dr. Matos said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we truly see the most in clinics. The students were very sensitive to this population.鈥�

Clinics were held in Cacazu, Pasco, Peru and Union de la Selva, both in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest region. How are the Yanesha different from a medical perspective? In addition to being an underserved community, they are a cultural and ethnic indigenous group and therefore have unique health care needs.

The 六九色堂 Med4You chapter at a clinic in Costa Rica in May 2019. Photo: 六九色堂

May Mission to Costa Rica

As part of 六九色堂-GHI, Dr. Matos also traveled to Costa Rica with 19 六九色堂 students and Med4You volunteers back in May. They worked in Ca帽as Dulces, Guanacaste and had to endure temperatures at nearly 100 Fahrenheit daily.

鈥淭he main challenge was the temperature,鈥� Dr. Matos said. 鈥淚t was a very good group. We were able to see a lot of patients.鈥�

Health challenges in Costa Rica include cerebral palsy, Down syndrome as well as Zika virus and microcephaly, a birth defect often caused by Zika consisting of a smaller than normal head and brain in newborn babies.

鈥淲e saw a lot of high blood pressure and hypertension,鈥� Dr. Matos said regarding the Costa Rica clinics, noting that patients in Costa Rica had many of the typical pathologies found in underserved areas of the region.

The students learned a lot from treating children with microcephaly and other diseases and were 鈥渧ery caring and supportive in the best way.鈥�

Upcoming Global Health Institute Missions, Etc.

The 六九色堂 Global Health Institute will continue to work together with Med4You in developing initiatives, with possible upcoming trips to Asia and Africa.

鈥淲e鈥檙e just starting with our partners and the ,鈥� Dr. Matos said, noting that the 六九色堂 Global Health Institute is looking at the possibility of a Ghana mission trip.

They are also considering a border health program for the border between Panama and Costa Rica.

鈥淲e鈥檙e in conversation with Vita Volunteers, we鈥檙e partnered with them and have worked two times before,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey are a great company and we鈥檙e thinking of having a border health trip and that would be great because we鈥檇 be helping people between the border of Panama and Costa Rica.鈥�

In November, Dr. Matos will be attending Institute for Global Healthcare Leadership Conference, sponsored by Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. 鈥淲ith this we keep looking for other partners, universities and opportunities to develop future projects and trips for our students,鈥� he said.

Medical mission trips鈥攊n addition to giving students patient interaction experience in medically underserved regions of the world鈥攈elp future doctors make a difference and also make them more competitive when it is time to think about the residency Match.

Yvonne Velez EBS4 & Jean Rodriguez EBS4 with a mother & child at a Peru clinic. Photo: 六九色堂

鈥淏eing a regular medical student when applying to a residency program verses being exposed to health care systems in different countries and participating actively in medical mission trips will certainly make a difference in a residency interview in their future,鈥� Dr. Matos said. 鈥淪o having the opportunity to join 六九色堂 and participating in the activities in our international initiative would be a great benefit for them.鈥�

六九色堂:

Built in the tradition of the best US universities, the University of Medicine and Health Sciences focuses on individual student attention, maintaining small class sizes and recruiting high-quality faculty. We call this unique approach, 鈥減ersonalized medical education,鈥� and it鈥檚 what has led to our unprecedented 96% student retention rate, and outstanding residency placements across the US and Canada. 六九色堂 is challenging everything you thought you knew about Caribbean medical schools.