Week 4 Clinic - CEMOPLAF

CEMOPLAF


First off, I once again must apologize that there are no pictures, but I was having some technical difficulties with my camera battery by this point in the trip.  Also, this week's clinic experience was limited to only a few days because I became very sick at the end of the week and couldn't go in to clinic.  Despite all this, I did really enjoy my experience here working with Dra Paredes.  


CEMOPLAF stands for Centro Médico de Orientación y Planificación Familiar.  This clinic focuses on family planning, but I spent my time working with a pediatrician that sees mostly infants and young children there.  This experience was very similar to the previous week.  It is a public clinic, and once again, patients were seen in the order that they check in.  We did many Control del Nino Sano exams and had many patients with common colds and coughs.  One difference between this clinic and Carcalen Bajo was that Dra Parades seemed to have an almost limitless supply of medications that she was able to give directly to the patients, instead of them having to go to the pharmacy.  Several times during clinic, drug reps would pop in and provide her with samples of different medications.  I thought this was a great advantage, because it made her instructions for taking the medications more clear when the parents had the medication right there in front of them.  

Doctora Paredes always focused on the importance of a healthy diet, and this was a major part of her interview questioning and teaching during Control del Nino Sano exams.  She was always careful to ensure that her patients were getting the right foods at the right times, and getting enough from the different food groups.  I noticed a food guide pyramid specific for Ecuador in her office, as well as several others.  This roughly follows our old pyramid model and interestingly includes 8 glasses of water as well.  

http://portalecuador.ec/module-Pagesetter-viewpub-tid-15-pid-10.php

As I mentioned above, CEMOPLAF is one of few places in Ecuador focused on family planning.  They actually have a partnership with Planned Parenthood, and provide a lot of much-needed education and services.  Here's this link to their website if you're interested in learning more: http://www.cemoplaf.org/.