PLATTSBURGH — Two of Nicaragua's bright young minds have traveled to the North Country to study this region's health care.
Carlos Mendieta and Alexis Narvaez, both 20, have toured area doctor's offices and CVPH Medical Center, an opportunity made available through a relationship between Nicaraguan health-care providers and North Country Mission of Hope.
TOP STUDENTS
On Mission of Hope trips to Nicaragua, Plattsburgh pediatrician Dr. Roger Patnode has worked with Dr. Clara Gonzalez, a professor of microbiology and parasitology at the University of Nicaragua at Managua.
Their conversations led to two promising students in the university's medical program, Mendieta and Narvaez.
"Dr. Gonzalez has shared with us two of her best students," said Karen Case, a Plattsburgh licensed midwife who has opened her home to the visitors, as has Dr. Kathleen Camelo of the Plattsburgh State Health Center.
DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS
Mendieta and Narvaez, who both speak fluent English, grew up in totally different types of communities.
Narvaez is from Managua, the nation's capital, with a population exceeding 2 million, while Mendieta comes from Diriamba, a small city the size of Plattsburgh, 50 kilometers from Managua.
In that community, Mission of Hope has assisted the poorly funded and equipped San Jose Hospital.
Early on, the young men both targeted careers in health care as their future goals.
"I've always liked biology, chemistry, all of the sciences," Narvaez said of those early inklings that he would one day like to provide medical care for his country.
"I grew up seeing old people around me getting sick without any health care available," Mendieta added. "It was very frustrating. I want to help improve the kind of health care our country is getting."
The average lifespan for men in Nicaragua is 60, while women live to 65, on average. Both students said they wanted to help strengthen their nation's health-care system and improve those figures.
RESEARCH PROJECT
Already in their third year of college leading to a medical degree following a six-year program, the two friends have been an integral part of a bone-marrow research project they hope will one day prove beneficial to their nation and the world.
The process they helped complete is in place, with 1,000 donors ready to participate, but the project now needs sufficient funding to help it move forward, Mendieta said.
Lack of money for health care, along with a shortage of medical technology, has plagued a nation that is in desperate need of innovative minds like those of Mendieta and Narvaez.
IMPRESSED
The pair has been extremely busy while in town, spending their days touring providers and clinics while continuing their own studies at night. They shared their appreciation for Gonzalez's support in helping their visit to Plattsburgh come true.
They have been very impressed with what they've seen here.
"I like the relationship between provider and patient," Narvaez said. "They are very kind to their patients. They have time to spend with each patient."
In Nicaragua, doctors have to see a certain number of patients per hour and are unable to spend extra time getting to know them personally, Mendieta added.
"It's frustrating for the patients when the doctor has to spend more time filling out papers than seeing the patient."
Mendieta also appreciates the technology that is available in the United States.
"We don't have so many machines in Nicaragua. We have to find the diagnosis (for each patient) with what we have available."
CERVICAL CANCER
Cervical cancer is a top killer of women in Nicaragua, where there is no access to the kind of advanced testing procedures that are available for American women.
However, both Mendieta and Narvaez are participating in another research project that is looking at cervical testing without technological assistance.
Both young men have a while to go before they have to decide what field of medicine they will concentrate on, but Mendieta said he is interested in plastic surgery, while Narvaez believes he would like general surgery.
The field of education may also be an option for the pair. They are both actively involved in the university as assistant lecturers.
DEEP UNDERSTANDING
Mendieta and Narvaez, who will volunteer at Mission of Hope's medical clinic in their home country, will take back with them a plethora of information on what the North Country is doing to provide its residents with consistent and thorough health care.
"Their level of medical knowledge at this point in their training is beyond my expectations," Camelo said of the two visitors.
"They'll talk about the cases they've seen with an understanding that is truly exceptional.
"They have been very appreciative of what they've learned and very responsible in how they have worked with the providers." The young men have also taken some time to be tourists, visiting the Adirondacks and taking in the scenery of a North Country winter.
Although the winter has been mild, from local residents' perspectives, it has been a bit chilly for the two.
"We're getting used to it," Mendieta said with a laugh, adding that it is probably 80 degrees and sunny back in Managua.
Email Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com
