Expanding Horizons: Practicing Medicine in Belize

We all – patients and medical professionals alike – have a tendency to take the health care system in the US for granted and to complain about what we see as its deficiencies. We decry the lack of insurance and the effects on those who do not receive necessary health care as a result. Knowing that the conditions are worse elsewhere is no justification for maintaining the status quo here, yet practicing medicine in a remote location does have a galvanizing effect on one’s perspective. It yields both a sense of gratitude for how much we have here, and some frustration regarding the unhealthy indulgences of those who then present themselves to the doctor demanding care.

I just returned from a week spent working at a clinic in southern Belize (no lush hotels, no azure water, no barrier reef, no tourists, no money) that is sponsored by the Medical College of Wisconsin Department of Family and Community Medicine. While there, I was part of a health care team that included three medical students from the Medical College of Wisconsin and two family practice residents, one from Waukesha and one from California. We provided care to those who could make it to our clinic site, went on mobile visits to remote Mayan villages where people will walk miles to be seen, and made home visits in the community to those who cannot easily access the other forms of care that are available.

The person that I remember most from this visit is Richard (not his real name). Richard is a 14-year-old boy who was being harassed for money by two of his classmates. During an extortion attempt last October, he informed his assailants that he had no money. They shot him in the chest, leaving him paralyzed. Since then and subsequent to his recovery from the gunshot wound, he has been living in his home confined to a hospital bed. He is cared for by his mother, a nursing assistant, and our team of doctors. Despite their best efforts, he has developed large sores on his heels and spine, some of which have eroded the flesh all the way to the bone. He has had minimal physical therapy and is suffering from poor nutrition. If he does not soon receive more aggressive care, his wounds will eventually become infected and he will die.

This is tragic for so many reasons. The people in this community are largely kind and friendly and the circumstances that have befallen this young man are truly unusual. Many of his former friends are afraid to visit to him, leaving him in his room with only American cable TV for entertainment. The health care system in Belize does not have the capacity to meet his needs for rehabilitation and care. We are trying to find options that would allow us to bring him to the US.

In addition to the clinic, we have several projects in place intent upon changing some of the health behaviors in the community at large. It is difficult to describe the circumstances in which people live except to say that it seems as though while there, we are on an entirely different planet. It is even more distressing to know that these conditions are not that unusual and if anything, are representative of what the vast majority of people alive today encounter.

If you are interested in learning more about what we are doing, visit our Department of Family and Community Medicine Belize website. If you are able, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to the Medical College of Wisconsin and specify that the gift should be directed to the Belize program. You may call 414-456-4700 to make a pledge, or mail your gift to the Medical College of Wisconsin Belize Program, PO Box 26509, Milwaukee, WI 53226.

For more on the Department of Family and Community Medicine's Belize program and its staff, see our HealthLink article The Medical College of Wisconsin's Central American Connection.

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