Dr. Mary Wierusz in the Dominican Republic with a Hatian patient who needed a skin graft.
What is it like to be on the ground, as a physician, helping as best as possible in such conditions? Reports from two physicians—one a new doc at Northgate and the other a retired Group Health physician—tell the story. View more of Dr. Wierusz photos here: Images from Dominican Republic
“We cared for refugees who came to the Dominican Republic from Haiti, most with orthopedic problems—crush injuries, need for amputations, wound infections—but some tropical diseases such as malaria, too,” said Mary Wierusz, MD, a family physician at Northgate Medical Center, recently returned from 12 days in the Dominican Republic. “As a volunteer with Children of the Nations, I was one of five physicians on a medical team of three surgeons, and another family physician.”
Working 12-hour shifts in a small hospital, these doctors performed skin grafts and amputation revisions, as well as focusing on pain and infection control. They brought donated supplies and medications with them, and more necessary equipment arrived while they were there.
Two patients, Stanley, who had lost three of the fingers on his right hand and Kevin, a thoughtful boy with a below the knee amputation blowing bubbles.
“Many of the patients had limbs amputated already, but with infections and fevers, pain control was a foremost concern,” Dr. Wierusz said. Although the clinic was set up to care for children, they had arrived with at least one family member, and so the team treated the adults’ various ailments as well.
“It’s a different way of practicing medicine. You can’t rely as much on labs and studies—just good physical diagnostic and history skills,” said Dr. Wierusz, adding that the cultural differences create challenges too. “We physicians are used to being scheduled out, but in these settings, patients just show up and you see as many as you can.”
In the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haitien, family doctor Jack Putnam, MD, traveled with pediatrician Jean Gortner, MD and clinical psychologist Larry Zuberbier, PhD—all retired from Group Health—as part of a team of fourteen, sponsored by Northwest Physicians Network.
Mother and Child
“We saw a patient population who had not received much, if any, medical care in the past,” reported Dr. Putnam. “We treated burns, trauma from falls and falling debris, ‘heartache’ (stress and grief from loss of family), malaria, pneumonia, scabies, parasites, STDs, and a variety of symptoms, often of a chronic nature. Diagnoses were difficult because of the lack of diagnostic equipment but especially so because of language barriers. Nonetheless, we saw nearly 900 patients.”
“My colleague and I developed a long term plan to identify ways patients can be discharged, relocated, and rehabilitated,” said Dr. Wierusz, who has a Diploma in Tropical Medicine. The need for physical therapists and other rehab clinician volunteers will only increase in the foreseeable future.”
More stories on Haiti: http://ghcnews.org/?p=582
