Sunday April 19, 2009

Today was the first real opportunity for new and experienced team members to get acquainted and begin planning for the first of five clinics that will start bright and early at 7:30 tomorrow morning.

Each day, the FTC Canada medical-dental team will bus to a different village and set up a project site. Project sites may be set up in a local school or even an open field. Facilities with roofs and electricity may be available, or the team may have to set up under tarps and bring in gas-powered generators to run the dental equipment.

Locations are selected during a scouting trip months in advance and are based on a variety of criteria, not the least of which is a communities need. Each clinic has several components, all working in tandem: patient registration, medical care, dental care, a pharmacy, and a distribution centre which dispenses food and supplies such as clothing, shoes, toys and undergarments.

The needs at each clinic are different, and every country and even every individual site within a country provides unique challenges and learning opportunities for the teams. This requires a lot of flexibility, and often creativity. One of the great strengths of the teams is their ability to constantly evolve to meet the needs of their patients, and the willingness to always seek solutions and opportunities to hone their process to deliver better, more efficient care.

The entire 2009 El Salvador Medical-Dental Team is eager to officially kick off the project’s first clinic, early tomorrow morning!