(Photos courtesy of Aarti Deshpande and team)
Last month, UCSF clinician Aarti Deshpande, CPO, FAAOP participated in her third year for the International service trip to Crimal Clinic in Queretaro, Mexico. The US ISPO Service Learning Trip is in association with Hughes International Clinics. Hughes Clinics, lead by Jim Hughes, who has been actively working in Queretaro since 1999, serving the underserved and non-affording patient population.
Aarti was part of a group from the US, comprising of 3 students Kristen Wan, Gillian Munro and Bianca Hill who received hands-on experience in an international setting with different mentors Jon Batzdorff, Josh McNeill and Mike Rice. This amazing learning platform was provided through USISPO. The students were super engaged, energized and worked cohesively with the local team from Crimal Clinic to accomplish the prosthetic fittings and rehabilitation of the local amputees in Queretaro, Mexico.
Every clinician got the opportunity to work with patients with different levels of amputations and different prosthetic components. Along with the local rehab team members, these experts were able to fit 22 patients, formulate treatment plans for the patients, overcome fitting challenges and achieve optimum outcomes for every patient. The goal of providing prosthetic devices to these underserved populations was constantly motivating and truly inspirational.
Throughout the week, the group did castings, fabrication and lamination of prosthetic sockets, assemblies of new prostheses, trouble-shooting and final fitting and prosthetic deliveries along with gait training and rehabilitation. The resident-mentor experience proved very effective to attain the set goals of patient fitting as well as proved to be a great hands-on learning experience. We got an insight on the overall poor healthcare situation in Mexico, lack of infrastructure and resources available as well as the large volume of patients that need these prosthetic devices. It was also fascinating to see how grateful these patients were to receive these devices and the impact it made in their lives as they went back to be active members in the community.
We are grateful to UCSF Orthotics and Prosthetics and Cascade Orthopedic Supply, LP for their support!
