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Charlotte O’Brien (2007 Leaver) – The “Floating” Doctor

Floating Doctors

Charlotte O

To conclude my final year at medical college I had the opportunity to study abroad for two months (known as an “elective”).  I chose to go to  Panama,  Central America, working for Floating Doctors. Floating Doctors is a non-profit organization, based in Bocas Del Toro, a small island just off Panama, founded in 2010 by Dr. Benjamin La Brot, a native Southern Californian in response to the enormous demand for healthcare around the world he had seen through his travels. Floating Doctors now acts as the primary healthcare provider to just over 25 key areas over a 500 square mile radius, delivering medical care to remote towns in the Archipelago de Bocas Del Toro region.

Floating Doctors follows a well-organised schedule in terms of how and where it delivers healthcare. Operating on a two week schedule, the first week is divided into alternating days of visiting a nursing home called The Aceilo, and travelling to smaller islands by boat setting up what is known as a single day clinics. The second week involves longer multi day clinics, servicing distant extremely remote areas, spending several days in one community.

Charlotte O

I had read of this schedule beforehand but didn’t appreciate the level of organization required to produce the smooth running of these days. Setting up a single day clinic involved transporting all the medical equipment from the mainland via boat to these isolated communities. This included large boxes containing the “mobile pharmacy” with a variety of drugs, from simple pain relief to anti-hypertensive medication. Once we arrived at an island we had to transport all the medical equipment and drug supplies to the “Rancho”, a central community point where we would run the clinic that day. The clinic consisted of a general admin table where patients would register, and if they had been seen before their medical records from previous admissions were looked at. Then there were 3-4 intake stations, where the patients’ vitals (blood pressure, temperature and heart rate) were recorded and a brief history of the problem taken. The doctors, myself included, then manned Provider Stations, where we would compile the information from the previous stations as well as ask further questions and carry out more specific examinations or investigations, to lead to a diagnosis and treatment plan.

Multi day clinics followed the same pattern but as the communities were located much further away from the mainland so rather than returning after one day we would run the clinic over three days and stay within the community.

The main thing I really enjoyed about the multi day clinic was how involved we were with the community. The communities were often fairly small and centred around the main Rancho. Sleeping arrangements were in the form of a hammock tied up around the clinic or between two strong looking trees! Our meals were provided and cooked by one of the families in the community who was often the contact for Floating Doctors. When I say meals I mean rice and beans, which we ate for lunch and dinner for four days!

The main benefit of running the multi day clinic, apart from the fact we were providing healthcare to such remote areas, was that we were able to run a follow up clinic on the last day. Therefore if we had seen patients on the Wednesday or Thursday and felt they would benefit from seeing the doctor one more time before we left, then we were able to ask the patient to come back to the clinic on the Friday. Most of the time these patients were children who either had a rash or viral infection, and after starting them on medication we were able to see if they were improving.

The volume of patients at these multi day clinics was overwhelming. When we arrived to set up the clinic families were already waiting asking us what time we were open. Often when we woke up there was already a huge queue of people waiting to be seen before we had even started.

Medical equipment to record basic vitals (e.g. blood pressure cuffs) was  available but diagnostic tools were limited to urine dip, blood sugar monitoring, pregnancy testing, hematocrit level and one of the most useful tools, a portable ultrasound scan. Situations did arise where a simple full blood count including full blood count and liver function tests etc. was vital, but was however unavailable. This is something we don’t think twice about requesting back in the hospitals in the UK, and it really made me appreciate how useful this testing can be.

Once a community had been seen whether in the form of a single day or multi day clinic they would then be visited by the floating doctors’ team in three months time. I often found this difficult to comprehend that there was no real way of checking to see if the patients were ok. You had to be very sure in your diagnosis in the first place and you were not sending a baby away who you suspected had a fever but actually had meningitis.

Children ranging from a few months old to 10 years were the most common age group that presented in the clinics. I particularly enjoyed this considering paediatrics is an interest of mine. Mothers who were not much older than myself would often bring 3-6 of their children all to be seen, and often the clinics felt like a nursery. Worms, back pain secondary to dehydration and manual labour were also common, not unexpectedly given the lifestyle of many of the families.

My time with floating doctors was unforgettable, enabling me to work with an inspiring team and have lots of fun along the way. It was interesting to work alongside lots of other medical professions from all different levels as well as different countries, and compare the way we have been taught. Floating doctor has allowed me to gain valuable insight into tropical medicine and the options of studying medicine in a different country.

Charlotte O

Charlotte O’Brien (2007 Leaver)

N.B. Merchant Taylors’ Old Girls Association was pleased to assist Charlotte with funding towards her trip, which helped pay for her flight.

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Our exciting, specialist two-day Cricket Camp is t Our exciting, specialist two-day Cricket Camp is taking place on the 24 and 25 August and is open for boys and girls aged 9-14. 🏏

The sessions will take place in our outdoor cricket nets and focus on seam and spin bowling followed by all aspects of fielding and batting.

Children will benefit from working with with former Lancashire Academy Director Gary Yates, improving on all aspects of their game.

Click the link in our bio to find out more or to book.
We currently have a number of positions available We currently have a number of positions available to join our team at Merchant Taylors' School including:

Teaching Assistant (Level 3)
Development & Alumni Relations Assistant
Senior IT Technician
IT Technician

To find out more about any of these roles, or to apply please click the link in our bio.
A #ThrowbackThursday to our Year 10 boys' final Sp A #ThrowbackThursday to our Year 10 boys' final Spanish lesson of the year. 

Pupils joined Dr Goodwin and Sr Rubia to cook a 'tortilla española' during the lesson following the traditional recipe and all turned out well!

¡Qué rico!
We have had more than 1,000 items of pre-loved uni We have had more than 1,000 items of pre-loved uniform kindly donated by parents across the school covering boys and girls of all ages.

From Monday these will be available from the Old Gym located at the Boys' School daily from 9am to 3pm. Any families who may wish to take advantage of this service are welcome to do so without prior appointment or charge. 

If you have any uniform that you no longer require and would like to donate, they too can be dropped off at the Old Gym.

Tomorrow we would welcome support from any pupils or parents as we organise all stock and prepare for Monday. If you would like to assist please contact Mrs Byrne via c.byrne@merchanttaylors.com.
We are seeking to appoint a Development & Alumni R We are seeking to appoint a Development & Alumni Relations Assistant. This role offers the opportunity to support the delivery of exciting and dynamic events and activities, with the primary aim of engaging alumni from across the world.

A key component of the role is to build relationships across the Merchant Taylors’ and wider school community, encouraging alumni, former staff and former parents to maintain contact with the school and each other.

Find out more or apply by clicking the link in our bio.
A team of recent leavers are working hard in prepa A team of recent leavers are working hard in preparation for the school's first ever Telethon, taking place in August to raise money for bursaries.

Many lives are transformed each year by regular gifts from alumni and members of the wider Merchant Taylors' community; there are currently 51 pupils at school on transformational bursaries (those 85-110% funded) thanks to these donations. 

We are looking forward to welcoming two new Year 7 pupils in September on the newly created Merchants Gives bursaries, funded by your donations last summer. The Telethon will build on that success as we aim to continue to increase bursary provision at school.
We are delighted that Old Crosbeian Bill Birchall will be providing matched funding to incentivise new regular donors.

To support the our bursary fund or find out more, please click the link in our bio.
This summer holiday we are pleased to be hosting a This summer holiday we are pleased to be hosting a Sale Sharks Rugby Development Camp at Merchant Taylors’ School for under 7s to Under 12s on Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 August.

The Rugby Development Camps are delivered by the award-winning @sharkscommunity team and offer young players the opportunity to develop alongside RFU qualified coaches with a wealth of experience in the community and academy game. 

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Thank you to the staff at @jet2pics for asking us to sing to one of the passengers on our plane who was celebrating their birthday. It was wonderful to finish off our tour with one final song in yet another unique and memorable venue! #Jet2View 

Our airplane performance was inspired by our impromptu singing in the streets of Venice, where we sang to a lady in a restaurant who was celebrating her 80th birthday. After the way in which our performance was received by the public in Venice, we decided to continue this with another grand happy birthday wish from the choir when we found out there was someone with a birthday on board our flight.

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An absolutely breathtaking performance from @merch An absolutely breathtaking performance from @merchantsalum and Mezzo-soprano @jjohnstonmezzo at the @bbc_proms this evening.

Be sure to catch it on the IPlayer if you missed it. 

#FirstNightOfTheProms
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