Bringing Vital Medical Care to Lake Atitlán

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read about our trip! We are traveling to Guatemala with a group of 12 medical students and 4 doctors from RVU to provide medical care in the Lake Atitlán region of Guatemala. This area is very medically underserved. Most locals have never been seen by a doctor or visited a clinic. My desire to provide care for this population began when I first visited Guatemala in 2023 to work on my medical Spanish for two weeks in Antigua. During that trip, I was able to discuss the difficulties faced by Guatemaltecas with my teachers, host family, and locals. Anthony and I have always wanted to help others on a global scale since we were medics together. Through the global medicine track at RVU, we are excited to finally be able to make this trip happen!

We will be operating out of Panajachel, where we will travel by boat each morning to various lakeside and mountainside villages for one week to provide care. We will have local interpreters with us that will be able to translate from Mayan to Spanish, and we will be carrying all of our medical supplies with us, enabling us to setup anywhere. A majority of the people we will see are children (based on information from physicians that have been to this region).

For most patients, we will be taking a history and performing a physical exam, performing point of care diagnostics, performing minor medical procedures (wound care, I&D, injections, vaccinations), prescribing and delivering culturally appropriate medications, educating patients on prevention and self-management when appropriate, and performing osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM). We are also purchasing personal care items to bring with us and hand out (soaps/shampoos, reading glasses, dental care items, wound care supplies, etc).

We plan on returning to Guatemala and continuing this effort for years to come, so it is very important for us to go with doctors that have been here before so they can "pass the torch" to those of us that want to continue this work. The relationships that have been built with the locals here have taken years to cultivate and we are approaching this trip with the utmost respect and awareness of differences in our cultures and medical practices.

Thank you so much for taking a moment to learn about what we're doing. We are beyond grateful to have the opportunity to help others that do not have access to the resources that we do here in America. Thank you for helping us spread love and goodness!

Here is a breakdown of our trip fees:

Medical supplies, personal care items for locals, lodging, food, transportation, vaccines, interpreter: $5,000

Flights: $1,800

Dates of travel: March 8-15, 2025

We will be sure to share updates and photos during the trip!