1. Medical Missions Foundation Antigua, Guatemala
Tim Gengler, SRNA

2. Antigua, Guatemala
Took 5 hours by plane to get to Guatemala and another hour by bus to get to Antigua

3. Medical Mission
Guatemala is a small country in Central America. The people tend to be very poor.
Their currency is the quetzal
Exchange is about 7.5 quetzals for each 1 dollar.
There is limited availability of quality healthcare
We went to Guatemala to provide surgical services

4. My Favorite Picture
This was not what I would traditionally have expected of a mission trip. We stayed in a hotel that was very nice. No sleeping in huts and eating bugs.
This is an inactive volcano that we could see behind our hotel.

5. Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro
We provided surgical services at the hospital, Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro, which is a converted church. Part of it is still used for this purpose.

6. Schedule We started each day early. 0615 breakfast
0645 walk to the hospital
0715 start first surgical case
finish the last surgical case (all cases had to be finished by 1700 because the bus schedule for the hospital staff)
1800 dinner with the team at a local restaurant
Lomo Saltado – a traditional Peruvian dish served at a local restaurant.

7. Anesthesia
Being an SRNA, I performed anesthesia for a variety of surgical procedures
This is an older model anesthesia machine, which I used in my operating room

8. Surgical Cases There were a variety of surgical cases performed
ENT – lots of tonsillectomies and septoplasties
Urology – lots of transurethrethal retrograde prostatectomies (TUPR)
Audiology
The audiology department provided and programmed approximately 180 sets of hearing aids
Cramped postop quarters, but
sufficient

9. Most profound clinical experience
I knew we would have limited resources, but knowing and experiencing are very different
I had a patient doing poorly and needing an infusion to support his blood pressure. I had to use what I had available to me in the room while I waited for the nurse from the room to find the pharmacist and then the pharmacist to mix the solution.
This really showed me that I need to be ready for anything and sometimes make due with what I have. It’s easy to take what we have at out immediate disposal here for granted.

10. Most profound cultural experience
The Guatemalan people are amazing. One of the translators told me, their goal in life is not to get as much stuff as they can, but just to be able to provide the essentials for their family: food, clothing, shelter.
The people who came for our services were clean and wore the best clothes that they had. They appreciated everything we did for them.
This vastly different from the poor people in our country.

11. Final Thought
This was an amazing experience. I am very thankful for the opportunity. I knew it would be great, but did not expect it to be so amazing. I look forward to going back on several occasions.