Faculty member Dr. Sam Madore returned from a March trip to Olanchito, Honduras, where he joined a diverse group of 40 other physicians through the Hackett Hemwall Patterson Foundation (HHPF) to learn and provide prolotherapy treatment to hundreds of Hondurans suffering with chronic pain. Since 1969, the HHPF has organized trips to provide prolotherapy education to physicians and medical care to the underserved people of Honduras. Dr. Madore reflected on his experience:
“We would arrive to the clinic at 7:30 in the morning with almost every seat filled with waiting patients, some of whom traveled many hours to see us. Initially it was daunting to know we would treat so many patients, but the instructors were phenomenal and the clinic so well organized that a 10 or 12 hour day of treating was tiring but enjoyable.
The physical discomfort of standing all day on concrete, sometimes in awkward positions to get the right angle for the injection, combined with the mental fatigue from learning a new procedure, revisiting anatomy, and treating many patients each day made me feel like a resident again. The confluence of serving others, learning medicine, and managing fatigue was both familiar and comfortable.
This trip helped me become a better physician in many ways but also a better person. The opportunity to experience a different culture and system of health care, hear stories of struggle and healing, and offer pain relief to people with so few resources was both humbling and inspiring.”