Welcome to the Global Health Field Experiences Page!
Global Health Field Experiences to Guatemala, in partnership with Wuqu' Kawoq (Maya Health Alliance), are a key part of every resident's training in the TCH/UC Family Medicine Residency. Field experiences are generally scheduled in July, November, February, and April. Group sizes vary and may also include UC medical, pharmacy, nurse, and/or MPH students, as well as participants from outside institutions. We are grateful to the many department faculty and community physicians who help precept on our field experiences. For many participants, our field experiences are integrated with our Global Health Course. See the Global Health Course page for course details. For all participants, important additional resources are found on this page below.
Learning Modules:
All field experience participants are required to complete a few learning modules prior to your trip. These are located on our Global Health Course page linked HERE. Participants are also invited to explore and/or complete other modules as desired.
Required modules for all field experience participants:
Guatemala Field Experience Orientation
Orientation to Guatemala
Effective & Ethical Short Term Trips
Working with Medical Interpreters
Nutrition in Global Health: PEM, Micronutrient Deficiencies, & Anthropometrics
Resources
Trip Planning
Field Experience Handbook This handbook should be your first stop for questions. Keep a copy of it close when traveling.
Wuqu Kawoq Volunteer Orientation Packet
Guatemala Travel Guide This guide was written by residents and is most useful for residents and students who will be traveling independently and working outside of a group trip.
Needed Supplies On each trip, our group is asked to bring certain supplies with us. Please consider donating some supplies on this list, or asking friends and family members to donate supplies or funds to purchase supplies. If you receive donated supplies that are not on the list, please email Dr. O'Dea to see if they would be needed before bringing them on the trip. Also, please email Dr. O'Dea at least two weeks before the trip to let her know what you have.
Wuqu Kawoq Guide for Visiting Health Professionals
Important Phone Numbers in Guatemala
Recommended Reading about Guatemala and Healthcare in Guatemala
The following books and articles are helpful to read before you go or while you are there.
Books
Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario is the story of a Honduran boy who makes the journey to the US to find his mother and what he finds when he arrives. This book will be discussed in country, so please read it and be prepared to share a passage that stood out.
Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup of Guatemala tells the story of how the US government covertly overthrew the democratically-elected government in 1952.
Health Care in Maya Guatemala: Confronting Medical Pluralism in a Developing Country
Silence on the Mountain: Stories of Terror, Betrayal and Forgetting in Guatemala
Guatemala by Lonely Planet, is a great travel guide.
Water, Cacao, and the Early Maya of Chocola by Jonathan Kaplan and Frederico Paredes Umana, is a book about the Mayan ruins found in Chocola, where we stay for one week during most trips. If you are interested in archeology, this is the book for you!
Videos
Guatemalan History and Politics in 20 minutes: Guatemalan history has been marked by violence, trauma and corruption.
Right to Life in Guatemala: Abortion has been illegal in Guatemala since 1973, except when the life of the mother is at risk. This story from Al-Jazeera reviews some of the consequences of this law. We recognize that abortion can be a controversial issue. Regardless of your opinions on the issue, this video provides helpful insights on issues of reproductive health in Guatemala.
Articles
Health care issues facing Maya people of the Guatemalan Highlands by Sunil Bhatt
Nutrition in a glance: Guatemala, World Bank, 2010
Medicinal Plants of Western Guatemala, by Shanna Stryker
Patient Satisfaction Survey Report 4/2016, by Leann Mey (UC MPH Student)
Guatemala Country profile from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
A guide for visiting clinicians to Guatemala by Chickering
When the United Fruit Company tried to buy Guatemala by Olufemi Taiwo This article from The Nation gives some background on the 1952 US backed coup of the democratically-elected president of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz
Mesoamerican Nephropathy by Correa-Rotter and Garcia-Trabanino
Depression is not a familiar word by Shanna Stryker, et all
Global Dialysis Perspective: Guatemala by Pablo Garcia and Vicente Sanchez Polo. This article reviews the current landscape related to access to care for patients with chronic kidney disease in Guatemala.
The History of Incaparina This article is in Spanish, but gives a great history of the development of Incaparina, a commonly used drink in Guatemala for treatment and prevention of malnutrition.
The following articles and books were written by the founders of Wuqu Kawoq:
Privatization and the New Medical Pluralism: Shifting Healthcare Landscapes in Maya Guatemala
Language revitalization and the Problem of Development in Guatemala by Tummons, Henderson and Rohloff
The normalization of Childhood Disease: An ethnographic study of child malnutrition in rural Guatemala by Chary et al.
"Beyond development": A critical appraisal of the emergency of small health care non-governmental organizations in rural Guatemala by Rohloff, Kraemer Diaz and Dasgupta.
Screening for Chronic Kidney Disease in a community based diabetes cohort in rural Guatemala by David Flood, et al.
Medical Spanish Resources
Medical Spanish Booklet: This is printable, and can fold into a booklet
Medical Spanish: Common Complaints
Wuku Kawoq Protocols
The following protocols have been developed by Wuqu Kawoq, and are crucial to providing consistent, quality medical care. Please make sure to review these before you go, and use them as reference. Remember that you will NOT have consistent internet access while seeing patients.
Guide for Doctors English Spanish
Vaginal Discharge English Spanish
Financial Support English Spanish
Clinical References
The following books and articles are useful clinical references. Remember, internet access is not reliable during patient care hours in Guatemala, and spotty at best the rest of your trip, so consider downloading materials before leaving the US.
Growth Calculators/Charts:
Preferred: WK and UC use Anthrocalc, available as an app for your iPhone or other phones.
WHO growth charts are available here. (Multiple charts, gender-specific, age/height/weight specific)
Growth Charts UK-WHO is an app that is downloadable and excellent for calculating z-scores in the field. Internet connection is not required. It uses the WHO growth charts for children under 5, but then UK specific data for children over age 5.
Wuqu Kawoq uses this excel spreadsheet to calculate z-scores.
Resident Evaluation Form: Preceptors, please use this form for resident evaluation during the trip. You will also have paper copies available.
Open MRS: This is the electronic medical record that is utilized by Wuqu Kawoq. I will email out your username and password.
Evernote Notebook
Click HERE to access and/or download the Evernote Notebook that includes many of the above resources. Remember to check your device settings to make sure the Notebook is accessible when you do NOT have internet access (as will be the case in the field clinics). (This can be tested by temporarily changing to Airplane mode.) If you do not have Evernote Premium, Evernote does not give you the option to download notebooks for off-line access; if you see a reference you really want in the clinic, you can copy/paste or save it as a new document into your own device/computer.
Post-Trip Evaluation
We value your input and implement your suggestions with each trip to try to make them the best experiences for learners and for the community alike. Please take the time to complete this evaluation after your return.
Photovoice Project
Each trip, our participants are asked to reflect upon their experience and share a photo with us. Please take a look at past Photovoice Projects.