Students and a teacher from the Faculty of Medicine of the Pontifical Bolivarian University “UPB” carried out a medical immersion in Gambia, the smallest country in West Africa, where they contributed with their work to the attention of the inhabitants of the region.
Mauricio Hernández, UPB teacher; Pedro Hernández and Santiago Ramírez, UPB Medicine students; and Susana Villegas, a student at CES University, were in charge of this medical mission at the first-level hospital Sibanor Health Center, who, within their duties, admitted, assessed, and cared for patients from this rural area of the country.
In this experience, the Colombian volunteers managed to obtain an operation, with international help, for Saryo, a 14-year-old Gambian girl in a vulnerable situation who has heart disease.
“These practices are a call to attention to the small but great efforts that can be made from the institutions, and that contribute to guaranteeing the right to health in the African continent, and even in the most vulnerable areas of our country. From the University we have also led this type of activities in Chocó to guarantee access to health for children and adults, which has been very gratifying”, said Mauricio José Hernández, a professor at the UPB.
It may also interest you: ICT Ministry asks Congress to support the National Development Plan to bring connectivity to the regions
In addition to comprehensive learning, medical students were able to experience a necessary cultural exchange for the development of academic and human skills for their profession.
The UPB School of Health Sciences has also been carrying out this type of medical activity in different rural areas of Chocó for 15 years, in order to train students in care focused on humanism. In this department, specifically, activities have been led to promote healthy lifestyle habits, disease prevention and primary health care.
Both the students and the teacher hope to continue supporting the different actions that can be presented as an opportunity to grow humanly and academically. In this way, the research and social projection carried out by the public health group of the UPB is supported.
Also read: Turipaná researcher developed a protocol for the production of vegetable organic fertilizer
