{"id":2793,"date":"2014-03-19T14:54:08","date_gmt":"2014-03-19T20:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/?p=2793"},"modified":"2014-03-25T11:43:19","modified_gmt":"2014-03-25T17:43:19","slug":"belmont-pharmacy-students-featured-in-a-tennessean-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/2014\/03\/19\/belmont-pharmacy-students-featured-in-a-tennessean-article\/","title":{"rendered":"Belmont pharmacy students featured in Tennessean article"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"www.tennessean.com\"<\/div>\n

March 19, 2014<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Guatemala trip is life-changing for Belmont pharmacy students<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/i><\/span><\/a>By Mignonne Bryant
\n| mbryant@tennessean.com<\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Gena<\/a>In a Guatemalan hotel, 23-year-old Belmont University student Gena Curl carefully unpacked all that she had brought from Nashville. A wave of doubts swept across her mind: \u201cAm I going to be able to do this? I\u2019m by myself in the pharmacy. Can I handle this?\u201d Curl knew no one in this foreign place and barely spoke the local language, but the experience changed her life forever.<\/p>\n

In October 2013, Curl traveled to Guatemala City as a fourth-year pharmacy student to provide free services at the Moore Pediatric Surgery Center \u2014 an opportunity offered by Belmont University\u2019s College of Pharmacy, which partners with the Shalom Foundation and BUCOP Medical Missions.<\/p>\n

According to Phil Johnston, dean of the pharmacy school at Belmont, roughly 25 students go each year to one of two locations: the surgery center in Guatemala City or a clinic on a coffee plantation in Antigua. Both locations are enabled by the Shalom Foundation. The building in Guatemala was remodeled and created as a surgery center by people from Nashville.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a sustainable service,\u201d said Johnston, who had visited last year. \u201cIt\u2019s one that we feel safe in providing, and it\u2019s at a level that our students can handle.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a little over a week, Curl and a team stayed in a nearby hotel and worked at the Guatemalan pharmacy from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur students actually learn how to set up the service, run it for a week, and close down the inventory and to work with a group of people they\u2019ve not worked with before,\u201d Johnston said.<\/p>\n

Curl\u2019s ophthalmological tasks meant assisting those with vision impairments. In the case of lazy eye, for example, Curl and the team were able to treat and fix the muscles. Her responsibilities included getting anesthesia kits and eye ointment ready, post-op and pre-op orders, answering phones, and her favorite part \u2014 being with the Guatemalan children.<\/p>\n

There were some challenges, however, along the way \u2014 particularly regarding the language barrier.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found myself acting things out a lot,\u201d said 26-year-old Ken Carver, who went on a the trip last year in June. \u201cAnd it was surprising how effective that could be.\u201d<\/p>\n

For 24-year-old Mandy Newman, who recently returned from her trip, technology came in handy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI literally took my iPad out,\u201d Newman said. \u201cI had the iTranslate app, and I typed in English what I was trying to say so she could read it in Spanish. So then she wrote in Spanish and translated it over to English so I could understand what she was saying back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another challenge students encountered was a shortage in medication. In instances such as this, Curl said she had to ask herself: \u201cWhat alternative could I give this child? If we don\u2019t have the Tylenol, what else could they take because they\u2019re in pain?\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the difficult situations, the trip had its share of breakthroughs. For Curl, such was the case with little Daniela, who was less than a year old with a large, dangerous tumor \u2014 the size of a tennis ball \u2014 on the side of her head. She was brought into the pharmacy, and the tumor was removed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so worth it \u2013 every bit of it,\u201d Curl said.<\/p>\n

She is returning this month to work at the Antigua plantation clinic. Once there, Curl will be providing medical care, teaching CPR to workers, and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m even considering moving to Guatemala after I graduate. I mean, it was just incredible. I\u2019ve never felt more alive than when I was there,\u201d said Curl.<\/p>\n

Newman feels the same way. \u201cI\u2019m going back, hands down,\u201d she said. \u201cI was already missing it and I hadn\u2019t even left yet. I plan on going back next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belmont may be expanding its pharmacy mission program through other organizations in order to accommodate the growing number of students eager to participate. \u201cWe\u2019re going to most likely establish additional locations around the Central America to do this,\u201d Johnston said.<\/p>\n

Carver said he and his wife intend to return to Guatemala to continue working with the Shalom Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is that we\u2019re all human and we all required and we all deserve quality health care,\u201d said Carver. \u201cAnd being able to provide that to a generally underserved population was an exceptional opportunity and something that I will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 19, 2014 Guatemala trip is life-changing for Belmont pharmacy students By Mignonne Bryant | mbryant@tennessean.com In a Guatemalan hotel, 23-year-old Belmont University student Gena Curl carefully unpacked all that she had brought from Nashville. A wave of doubts swept … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pharmacy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2793"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2809,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2793\/revisions\/2809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}