Aphnie Germain, DO: Overlook Medical Center, Family Medicine Residency PGY3

Guatemala: May 2025

  During my time in Guatemala, I worked primarily at a free clinic in Ciudad Vieja, a municipal initiative supported by the local mayor and his wife. Staffed by social workers and physical therapists, the clinic provided essential care to underserved communities. Each morning, I walked 20 minutes from my homestay in Antigua to the central market, then boarded a colorful, crowded chicken bus for the short ride to Ciudad Vieja. Many patients had already lined up upon arrival, often having traveled for hours on foot across difficult terrain to access care.

  I served as the primary provider, supported by a translator and a rotating supervisor from Maximo Nivel. Over five-hour clinic days, I saw 10–20 patients, treating conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, abdominal and joint pain, respiratory infections, and headaches. Given limited resources and poor access to follow-up care, I focused on high-yield interventions: point-of-care glucose testing, osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT), physical therapy exercises, and brief mental health support. For chronic conditions, I emphasized education, lifestyle changes, and medication adherence, with supplies donated by local hospitals. Thursday mornings—when families visited post-market—allowed for continuity of care. Memorable cases included an adolescent with IBS and a wheelchair-bound woman with uncontrolled diabetes, reflecting the full scope of family medicine across the life span.

  Through the clinic’s municipal partnerships, I also joined community outreach events, including a food distribution drive for single parents and the elderly, and supported abuelitas selling traditional snacks to local schoolchildren—experiences that deepened my understanding of how health connects with culture and community. My homestay in Antigua offered warm hospitality, daily home-cooked meals, and cultural immersion. Surrounded by Guatemala’s rich landscapes, coffee aromas, and vibrant street life, I found both reflection and renewal.

  This medical brigade reaffirmed my calling to family medicine. It highlighted the privilege of caring for people of all ages and backgrounds, and the impact of adaptable, compassionate care. From hiking Acatenango Volcano to treating patients in Ciudad Vieja, I returned with stronger clinical skills, deeper cultural insight, and a renewed sense of purpose and a little more comfortable in my Spanish. I highly recommend this experience to anyone pursuing global health with humility and heart.