Frontera NorteSur December 2002-January 2003

FEMAP's Hospital de la Familia in Ciudad Juárez has a long history of providing learning opportunities for students and volunteers alike.  For several years now, the hospital has been working in cooperation with the Belize Medical Center in Belize City as a teaching hospital. 

In June, I interviewed Katie Kruschel and Ben Kamali, two medical students who had just finished working at the Hospital de la Familia for eight weeks.  Part of the curriculum of their school, called clinical rotations, requires that all students spend the last three trimesters in Juarez.  Generally, since these students are not fluent in Spanish, they look for a doctor who speaks English to shadow for the duration of their stay.  

Kamali and Kruschel worked with Dr. Berumen in pediatrics and Dr. Perez Kan in obstetrics/gynecology, both of whom they praised as highly skilled doctors.  Katie Kruschel had previously worked as a nursing assistant in Wisconsin, and Ben Kamali was an RN in Albuquerque, so both had prior experiences in U.S. hospitals.  Both have a love of pediatrics and children, although Kamali might also look into cardiology as a specialty.  

Kamali and Kruschel are attending medical school in Belize City and will take their U.S. medical board exams in January, 2003. 

The following are some excerpts from the interview I conducted:

FEMAP (Federacion Mexicana de Asociaciones Privadas) Foundation: How do you think this experience will help you in your future career as a doctor?

Katie Kruschel: It forces us to learn better diagnostic procedures without the equipment that is available in the U.S.

FF: I am interested in how you see the differences between a hospital in the U.S. and ours in Mexico, for example, when I worked at the Hospital de la Familia, I was struck by the really dynamic interaction between the patient and the doctor.

Ben Kamali: The way we see it, in the Hispanic society, along the border here, they have more compassion for each other.  They don’t look at each other as a patient and a doctor. They kiss each other and hug each other.  They are so friendly to each other. They still have a high degree of respect for the doctor, but are more interactive.  In our society doctors are so busy, they can’t have more than 10 minutes of time for the patient, and this limits their interaction.

Katie Kruschel: They don’t let what they don’t have bring them down.  They use what they have and make it work for them. Any little progress, they’re so grateful, even if they don’t have all of the equipment that is available to us.

FF: What do you see as the biggest health challenge facing the border?

Katie Kruschel: Infectious diseases and lack of prevention.

Ben Kamali: Definitely lack of education. Both teaching and instruction are key when people are hospitalized, even if they could have educational videos.

Katie Kruschel: You could provide these in the general rooms and it would be very helpful for the mothers.  Everything from “caring for your baby” to “things to watch for” like anemia or diarrhea.

FF: Have you ever lived on the border before?

Katie Kruschel: No.

Ben Kamali: No.

FF: Would you consider returning to the border to practice medicine in the future?

Ben Kamali: Definitely, I intend to return to the border to practice.  I would even give my time to work over in Juarez.  This has been so important; any student needs to be able to see a hospital outside of their own country.

Katie Kruschel: I would like to join “Doctors Without Borders” at some point.  I would definitely consider practicing here.

FF: How do you think this experience has changed you overall?

Ben Kamali: It changed my life, because I look at these patients differently, the system differently, I know my relationship with patients will change and I will spend more time with them.

Katie Kruschel:  I just wish I could tell any patient who has some silly gripe in the U.S. about not having good hospital food, I’d like to say look over here, you could be this person.  Don’t worry that your eggs are runny.

Both Ben Kamali and Katie Kruschel will earn their medical degree in December of 2003.  They will be in Juarez working at other clinics through the end of this year.

For more on FEMAP and the FEMAP Foundation go to www.femap.org

To see an April, 2002 FNS article describing the work of the Hospital de la Familia go to http://www.nmsu.edu/~frontera/apr02/feat4.html