Ambon, sea sickness, Darwin, profile

After Jailolo, Ambon was somewhat of a letdown. We worked sick call a number of days which is not nearly as exciting is going into the field. However, I did see my first eel bite (not joking). The major concern with an eel bite isn't so much the bite, but the things that might be in the water that could enter via the bite. I called in the Infectious Disease expert and she said there were potentially a number of serious things that could occur but they were unlikely so she just had the patient double their doxy (taken for malaria prophylaxis) and wait and see. Luckily it cleared up quickly. Many other providers (before I consulted with ID) suggested multiple antibiotics to cover all bases but her conservative approach made sense. I did go ashore one day to a site near Ambon. It was a hospital in a small beach town. The people there seem to have more access to basic care although still saw a few active TB cases and some cases needing surgery that wasn't available. Also out of control BPs and diabetes. I still took the treat and reinforce adherence approach. Perhaps the more interesting aspect of this stop was being able to go ashore for leave. The city itself was so chaotic. I've never encountered traffic quite like it with cars and scooters all over the road with many near hits and a few hits. Stop lights and pedestrian crosswalks are suggestions rather than absolutes. The streets are dirty and sewage is open. Before we left Ambon was told the seas would be rough. However, I got a little too overconfident after not getting sick to that point. Well, spent the next 36 hours being seasick. Was very happy when we arrived in Darwin. Was very happy to arrive in Darwin. A truly charming little city and a nice way to end to mission. I was profiled on the Project Hope website so link is included and picture in helo. http://projecthopeinthefield.blogspot.com/2010/08/fiu-professor-hope-volunteer-and.html Hope you enjoyed the blog. Perhaps at some point I will put some pictures up.

Farewell Indonesia

We are pulling up anchor as I write this and the next stop is Australia.Today, all the Indonesian translators left the ship, most heading back home to Jakarta where we originally picked them up. They were all very friendly and fun, not to mention hardworking and such an important part of this mission. It was an emotional day for all of us... having to say goodbye. But we have all made new friends on board and will all see each other again...thanks to facebook! Lots of e-mail addresses were exchanged.

Randy, Vanessa and I spent our last day on' sick call' duty. So no more work, yippee! Smooth sailing ahead I hope. Actually, we may be heading into some rough weather conditions, maybe up to 7 foot seas. Most everyone says we should not feel much of it due to the size of the ship. I am not taking any chances and have already started taking my dramamine!

We should be in Darwin on the 5th, most of Project Hope will be heading in different directions at that time. The ship will continue it's mission into Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, Guam and I think it will end in San Diego. Vanessa and I will visit Sydney for 2 days before returning home.

This has been a great opportunity for me and I have learned so much, not just about medicine and how to diagnose and treat people, but also things on a bigger and more global scale. This mission was most importantly about the relations between Indonesia and all the partner nations that were represented here,known as the Pacific Partnership. My part was small, but I am proud to have partaken in this mission.

This will be my last entry into this blog. Thanks to all of you that followed our adventures! Thank-you to FIU for making this possible for us. I wish all the future FIU students the best and hope they will continue to send students on these missions.

FIU presence

Time to toot FIU’s horn
FIU should be proud of its contributions to the Pacific Partnership 2010. First, Dawn and Vanessa, our NP students, have basically worked as independent providers for most of the mission and have been integral members of the primary care medical team. The Navy’s view is that they are senior NP students in their last clinical and thus should be able to work independently and so they have put them on the schedule as such. Dawn and Vanessa have risen to the occasion and have done FIU proud. That isn’t to say that the other providers weren’t there to help when Dawn and Vanessa had questions or wanted a consultation. Most of the experienced providers were more than willing to help all of us on the FIU team when we had questions or needed consultations. Speaking of the team, turns out FIU has more connections here than just us three. When Vanessa and I were out on the 7 day overnight mission, our 2nd in command, and our fellow medical provider, was Liz Prieto. Liz is a Peds NP (an excellent one at that). I was watching her see children and said to her “I think when I get back I want to ask Dr. Lobar about doing peds” because it looks like such a great experience. Liz said “Sandy Loabar? I had her as a professor.” Yep, turns out Liz is a Cuban-born, Miami-raised, FIU-graduated Peds NP. That meant the majority of providers at this site were from FIU! Later, back on the ship, a woman came up and asked if I was the FIU professor. Her name is Valerie Diaz, a nurse anesthetist who graduated from the first class at FIU for that program. Way to go FIU!