This past summer, a group of physicians, medical students and undergraduates set out for two weeks to volunteer at Orphanage Emmanuel in Guaimaca, Honduras. During their stay, the physicians and students set up an off-site clinic to provide medical assistance to around 400 patients.
Leading the group were local physicians Lance Slade, M.D., Jake Kirpatrick, M.D., Tony Farmer, M.D. and Hannah Batten, M.D. — all Mercerians, with ties through undergraduate, medical school or residency training.
The physicians were accompanied by a group of 12 Mercer University medical and premedical students, as well as Spanish-speaking undergraduate students.
“I see health care in a completely different light,” Sasha Mainer, fourth-year medical student in Columbus, said after the experience. “The things that I’ve learned will not just make me a better physician but a better person. Honduras will always have a piece of my heart.”
“Seeing the impact a routine physical had on these kids — something we often take for granted in the U.S. — meant a lot to me,” said Rhett Parr, fourth-year medical student in Valdosta. “I will remember when I’m practicing medicine at home that all parts of medicine are valuable.”
During the two weeks, students helped provide needed updates and innovations for the clinic at Orphanage Emmanuel. Their support was especially critical because, in the prior three months, both nurses who had been providing care for the children had left, leaving the orphanage in dire need of help.
“We used our resources to provide multiple computers for the clinic, as well as telemedicine tools like digital stethoscopes and otoscopes. These devices allow the clinic to send pictures and audio recordings of heart rhythms and lung sounds back to our clinic in Macon. This support helps reduce the impact of limited care options on-site at the orphanage,” said Dr. Slade, managing director of Primary Pediatrics in Macon.
Dr. Slade’s own medical education included mission work overseas.
“I was forever changed by the opportunity to visit Peru and Venezuela the summers after my first and second years of med school,” he said. “It meant a lot to see physicians in action, get a glimpse of what medicine could be, and understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ we do.”
Students developed digital templates for well and sick visits, digitized and organized the clinic’s medical records, and set up individual files for each child to coordinate care with the in-country children’s services department. They also performed physicals, hearing and vision checks on the more than 200 children at the orphanage, created Spanish-language materials, and led puberty classes for children aged 10-18.
Dr. Slade and his wife, Toni, own Woodland Roasters, a coffee shop in Warner Robins, which supports the work at Orphanage Emmanuel through job training and fundraising. The Slades adopted their son, Henson, from the center in 2017.
“It was especially dear to our hearts watching these rising fourth-year med students take the pre-med students (including our other son, Spencer, and his soon-to-be fiancée, Presley) under their wings and teach them,” said Dr. Slade. “These med students don’t realize how larger than life they are to the pre-meds. Their mentorship has definitely deepened the assurance that medicine is the way to go for these college kids.”
This trip to Honduras is a pilot program for a larger Mercer On Mission project currently being developed.
“We are so grateful for the opportunity to launch Mercer On Mission at Orphanage Emmanuel,” added Dr. Slade. “It’s providing lasting generational change, and it’s very personal for us. We are excited for the future.”
