The Grange, Home for the elderly that we visited for Thanksgiving is experiencing some financial hardships. We found out that they are in need and we really want to help. If you, your family, or friends would like to make a donation to the Grange, they would all be so very grateful.

Dr. Turnbull (jturnbull@rossmed.edu.dm) is on the Board of the Northern District Home for the Aged and is willing to collect the donations. Please direct checks to Dr. Turnbull at Ross, made out to the Northern District Home for the Aged.

She will send receipts and grateful acknowledgements.

Thanks everyone!

I apologize for the delay, but the files given to us by Dr. Daniel Palazuelos from Partners in Health (PIH) are now available online.

Click Here to Download the Zipped Files

(Please be patient while downloading, it’s a large file.)

Today’s Thanksgiving meal/party at the Grange Home for the Elderly was a fabulous success. A huge thanks to everyone who made food and/or volunteered. As those of you who were there know, the residents thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I can’t think of a better way to share a Thanksgiving meal. All of you made it possible, and I know both the residents and staff were very grateful. I hope you all keep the memories close to your heart! Hopefully, we will turn this one event into a lasting relationship with the Grange.

Again, a special thanks to Micah for taking the pictures.

Click Here to View the Photos

“This year, President Bush’s last year in office, we are mobilizing some of the most prominent health professionals in the country to tell President Bush what it will take to secure his legacy as the president who committed unprecedented funds and attention to the global epidemic. The letter, which addresses the main Health Action AIDS Campaign goals, specifically calls for support and funding for African health workers and health systems, and for the expansion of prevention and care programs for women and girls and for injection drug users.”

At PHR’s request, Dean Coleman, along with other Deans and health care professionals signed this letter to President Bush to call for action on global HIV/AIDS.

You can HELP as well! Please take just a few minutes to sign this online petition to support PHR’s call for action on Global HIV/AIDS.

For more information on this campaign, click here.

Yesterday, PHR and AMSA joined forces and travelled to Vieille Case, Dominica for a diabetes clinic. In celebration of World Diabetes Day, students screened residents by taking their blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, waist and hip circumference, and nutritional assessment. After taking histories and gathering the data, students counseled residents on their health and ways to improve their nutrition and exercise levels. They were also educated on diabetes and its many complications.

A big thanks goes out to Austin Yuen, who managed to head up the event for PHR. Thanks so much to all of you who participated in the event. And a special thanks to Micah Walter, for volunteering to be our photographer. I think it was a huge success!

Click Here to View the Photos

For all of you involved in the World Diabetes Day event, here are the promised files available for you to download.

WDD Zipped Files

Diabetes Powerpoint

If you were unable to make it to the last meeting for World Diabetes Day, this is your LAST CHANCE to sign up!

World Diabetes Day is taking place on Friday, November 16th. You can sign up for the 2:30 or 3:30 shift. Transports will be available. The event will take several hours. We will be doing nutritional assessments, waist/hip ratios, blood glucose, blood pressure, and mostly PATIENT EDUCATION and AWARENESS.

Please see the following announcement for details. If you are interested, please come to the meeting today in PBL 16 at 5 pm.

Best,
Kendra Campbell
President,
Ross University Physicians for Human Rights

Hello to all volunteers!

On Monday, we will be meeting in PBL 16, at 5pm. Each of us will take a quick 2 minutes to present diabetes in a way that will be understandable for children and elderly people who do not have much education. This will be a time for us to support each other and help check to make sure everything we will be saying is simple enough and clear up for them misconceptions of diabetes. As Mrs. Lambert says, they might just be nodding their heads when talking to you when they have no idea what you are saying.” So Monday is a time for us to check among ourselves. Please bring your pictures and whatever resources that you plan to bring to the meeting. If you have pictures, you don’t have to print it because the Biochem Secretary will print it for you, but please bring your flashdrives so that everyone can see what you will be using and so that we can collaborate on resources.

On Monday, please check your schedules and be prepared to commit to either being in front of the library at 2:30 or 3:30pm.

Lastly, for support for everyone, bring a difficult question that you see yourself having difficulty explaining.(example: what to say when approached:
“I can’t even walk, so how do expect me to exercise?”
“I might lose my job if people know that I am diabetic.”
“The ocean is salty. So i shouldn’t swim because I have hypertension.”
“Why should I test my sugar levels when I have to travel so far?”
“My mother had diabetes and so did my friends. They are fine. But my uncle was always checking his sugar level and he died.”
“You say I should eat _______ instead of _________? But I don’t have the money.”
“You are medical students. You will make lots of money some day. Why don’t you give me some?”
“After your training in the States, why don’t you come back to be a doctor in Dominica?”)

I think we’ll be able to share stories at the end of the day, but to give more than just “Yes” or “No that is not true” to certain questions, we should support one another before this happens.

Note: Mrs. Lambert will be off island until Thursday and may have limited email access. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me or ask the Biochem Secretary in the buglows. We’ll be glad to help.

Below, I attached a summary of what we will be doing. See you all in Monday!

Austin
277-6086
austinyuen@rossmed.edu.dm
______________

On Nov 16, 2007, we will be dressed in “sharp clothing”(as Mrs. Lambert puts it) and white coats with the Ross logo. There will be a media recording taking place as an information video for Dominica, and she wants them to know that it was ROSS that helped out in this event. (I have to go buy my Ross logo now). Try to borrow one if you don’t have one.

We will be taking an arranged transport in front of the library at 2:30 or 3:30pm. The transport will take us to a school in Ams des Mai/Vielle Case which is 30minutes northeast of Portsmouth(a map is displayed in the Biochem dept). This location will be a gathering point for all villages in the area including Portsmouth, Grand Bay, Calibishie, Cabrits, etc. Basically, this invitation goes out to the entire Northern Dominica, and the number of patients is going to be a lot but unknown.

For us, Mrs. Lambert has assigned us to file pages 2-4 in”Nutritional Assessement Form.doc” from the patients. It definitely will be a lot. There will be shifts stations so certain people will be working on one sections of the paper. For now, assume each of us will be doing the entire assessment because :

(1)to be familiar with the form and (2) just in case it comes to that there are too many patients for shifts. You will also need to be able to explain what diabetes is and the tests, especially why we are pricking their fingers.
They will also have their own medical record booklet with them, aka “exercise book,” as so you will have information on their past medical history.

Despite the fact that it is indoors, we still are in a time constraint because there’s not going to be transport running all night for the people to stay late and there may be lots of people there.

As Mrs. Lambert says, this will be your chance to be a doctor (even when we are not doctors yet): take an assessment, read and evaluate things that may be bothering the patient, provide information, and even suggest life changing plans for the person in the “summary of findings” and plan of action/goals.” This could be your chance to change the length of people’s lives. So when you are prepare with materials, info and presenting on Monday and Friday, think about this event as not a volunteer service, but as an opportunity for you to really help people the way you said you would do in your personal statements when you apply to Ross. This would be an opportunity for you to change lives.

Thank you, and let’s get the spirit of healing going

Thanks to all who have volunteered so far for the World Diabetes Day event on November 16th.

If you’ve already signed up, or if you’re thinking about volunteering, please join us with Dr. Lambert for a brief meeting in the Conference Room of the Biochemistry Department tomorrow, Friday November, 9th at 3 pm.

Please join us for our next Coffee Talk Film Viewing: Voices in Exile

“Voices in Exile,” which chronicles the struggle of the Tibetan people for their culture and for their very lives, is the most important film you can see this year…a mini-masterpiece”

-Norman Shoaf, City Editor, Antelope Valley Press

When: Thursday, November 15 at 7 p.m.

Where: Classroom 2A

Popcorn will be served. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Click here to view the Flyer.