Much of what we see is minor illnesses. Children often get fevers and colds. Adults have body aches from working long hard days in the fields. We also see diarrhea, cuts and other illnesses.
I have no medical training, just some books and a mothers experience. For the first 9 months we lived with the Ga’dang, Christina had dealt with most of the medical issues that came our way. She had done some training for a few months with a doctor in Manila. When she left for home assignment, taking care of the medical needs fell on me. I felt like some things I knew what to do with them and others I had no clue. I felt very inadequate to meet the needs of our friends. Then I learned of a nurse that went on a course to help her as she did some short term mission trips. I inquired to her about the course and learned that it is for missionaries with or without previous medical training. I knew for sure that this was what I needed to help our family and the Ga’dang people.
I was also blessed to have our new co-worker to join me on this medical course. So September 15th we left for North Carolina for 12 days. We had 12 days without husbands or kids! What a treat that would be. We were actually a little nervous as we usually fly with our husbands and kids. But it was just us two ladies! Praise the Lord our flights went smoothly, just a little delay but we made our connections with no trouble. We even rented a van for the first time! And drove in a state the we were not familiar with. We praise the Lord that we had no problems with all our travels.
So what did we do for 12 days? The course ran from Monday till a week Thursday. Each day we started breakfast at 7:15am. Then we had chapel from 8-8:30 am. From there we started classes until noon. From noon till 1 pm was lunch and then the afternoons were either homework or more classes. We then went into town for dinner at a local restaurant. From 6:30 pm till, well late, we spent working on homework.
I haven’t sat in a classroom all day for quite a few years, so it was exhausting. They told us at the beginning that the course is “intensive” as is in the name of the course. And it was true. My brain was worked every minute of the day. I also slept better than I had in weeks too!
So what did we learn??? We learned the basics first. We learned about the different systems of the body and how they work. We learned how to take a medical history and do a physical exam. We learned how to figure out correct dosage on medications and ORS. We learned how to insert feeding tubes, and how to give injections. We learned about dislocations and broken bones, and what to do for them.
One of the main parts of the course was to learn how to use a set of books. Village Medical Manual was written by a doctor who has been working overseas for many years. She uses her knowledge of medicine and her experience in these books to help missionaries, whether trained or not, to know how to treat the many medical issues that might come your way. These books show how to do many procedures but most importantly they help guide you to a diagnosis. We spent many hours working on case studies. These case studies included a medical history, and information from a medical exam, plus other details like pictures. From there we had to use these books to see if we could diagnosis the problem. Sometimes it wasn’t too hard, other times it was very challenging to figure out what was wrong with the person. We had 2 attempts at a diagnosis. If we were wrong on the second attempt we had killed the patient! As much as it was not a real person, it showed us that if we are not careful, we could seriously harm someone. The books also show you the correct treatment, with alternate options if possible. It also says when you need to seek more specialized medical treatment. Thankfully I did not kill any of my patients!
I left the course with so much more knowledge than when I started. I think it also showed that I can trust the books and the knowledge that I had and now have. I look forward to putting into practice all I have learned when we return to the Philippines next year.
One very important thing we learned or where reminded of on this course was the importance of no matter what we do as we serve God, the first thing we need to remember is, “God’s Glory!” If what we are doing, even if it seems good, doesn’t give God glory, then it is not worth doing.
If you are interested in attending this course, here is the link to their website. https://www.equipinternational.com/
Here are some pictures from our time.
Chapel
Our class of 18 students
One of our instructors- Anna
Learning about dental care
The room Valerie and I shared
Putting a splint/cast on an ankle.
Valerie showing off her “broken” wrist!
Valerie and I…we survived!
Another instructor- Larry.
We finished our trip with a wonderful blessing. When we travel, we always travel with children. The benefit of traveling without kids, is we got moved up to 1st Class for our last flight! We enjoyed the extra snacks and drinks in glass cups instead of plastic. Plus it was much more quiet. There were a lot of kids in the seats around where we were supposed to sit!
Thank you to all who gave to help pay for this trip and course. Thank you for all prayed for Chuck and kids as we were away. They all survived too!
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