Health Care Volunteer Venture

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Opportunity: Health Care Volunteer Venture

  • Organization/Sponsor: The Tandana Foundation

  • Web address of Organization: http://tandanafoundation.org/hcvv-welcome.html

  • Detailed Description:

    • Through our health care program in Ecuador, The Tandana Foundation aims to improve rural community members’ access to basic health care and support local rural health professionals in caring for their population.

    • Tandana’s health care work has two stages:

      • community visits by groups that include volunteer health care providers and

      • extensive follow up after these visits.

    • Together with Tandana staff and local professionals, including staff from the local health centers, our volunteer groups visit various communities in the parish of Quichinche. Working with interpreters, providers examine the patients, make diagnoses, and prescribe medications from our portable pharmacy. Following our providers' recommendations, we can perform basic laboratory tests and ultrasounds. Providers fill out referral forms for any patients they feel need additional care, testing, or specialists. During our community visits, we also address dental, vision, pediatric, and preventative care needs.

    • The second phase of our health care work begins after the visits to the communities have taken place. Tandana's Patient Follow Up Coordinator reviews the referral forms and makes a plan for where each of the patients needs to go. Staff communicate with the patients and advocate for them in the public health system. It is our goal that, through this process, patients learn how to use the system on their own.

  • Medical Specialty needed: Primary care, internal medicine, family medicine, ophthalmology

  • Location: Otavalo, Ecuador

  • Time Required: 1-2 weeks

  • Volunteer or Compensated: Volunteer

  • Malpractice Insurance:

  • Contact Person from organization:

  • Contact Person from TPMG: