Cinterandes Foundation Mobile Surgery Program Ecuador

[Surgical FMG]

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Hey.
Just wondering if anyone here has been, or is going, or knows someone who is going or has been to Cuenca in Ecuador for the Mobile Surgery program by Cinterandes Foundation.

http://cinterandes.org/mobile.php

It is run by a US-trained surgeon Dr Edgar Rodas, MD FACS, who was the former minister of health of Ecuador, and a dean of one of the medical schools in Cuenca.

It is largely maintained by volunteer donations and student elective payments (190USD/week).

Let me know if you are interested, or want to go! I'm heading there in Aug 2009. So psyched!

 

[gunksdo]

Hey there

I spent 3 month in Cuenca with the Citerandes Foundation, Oct- Dec 2008.

Really enjoyed my time there. I would suggest contact Dr Rodas about what trips are planned for the time that you are there. When there are no trips the van operated only on Tuesday. The trips where the best part.

Spanish a plus because while Dr Rodas and some of the med students speaks english very little english is spoken during the surgeries. Experience with surgery would also be helpful because there are not alot of supplies or room to make mistakes.

While home stays are offered, I know some other housing stituations that are preferable. I have a list of other things in the area to checkout if you are interested.

let me know your specific questions
gunksdo

 

[PlasticMan]

Can you guys or anyone give any more details about your experience? Do you go out on the van everyday or spend some days in the hospital and some days in the van?

 

[Surgical FMG]

Hey.
Just wondering if anyone here has been, or is going, or knows someone who is going or has been to Cuenca in Ecuador for the Mobile Surgery program by Cinterandes Foundation.

http://cinterandes.org/mobile.php

It is run by a US-trained surgeon Dr Edgar Rodas, MD FACS, who was the former minister of health of Ecuador, and a dean of one of the medical schools in Cuenca.

It is largely maintained by volunteer donations and student elective payments (190USD/week).

Let me know if you are interested, or want to go! I'm heading there in Aug 2009. So psyched!

pardon me it was actually aug 2010. so i have yet to go.

however, i have heard some good things about it. the only negative thing i heard which could play a big part in your expectations of the trip is, you gotta liaise with Dr Rodas himself about what you want to do. Of course, this is not done via email. FLUENT spanish is a definite however i have heard of students who survived in spanish speaking countries for 4-6 wk electives with only basic spanish.

 

[PlasticMan]

If anyone has any other information on accomodations or other helpful things on Cinterandes and staying in Cuenca, please post in here or send me a PM. I'm going this summer and am very excited. Thanks for your help.

 

[Kuba]

I do research with his son in the states, if you PM me specifics I can ask all the questions.

 

[Prodas]

Hey there, I´m Dr. Rodas son, if you are interested in his program, you can find a lot of info in the foundation´s web page

 

[jester384]

I'm looking for a 1 month, 4th year medical student clerkship in South America. UCSD requires the clerkship to be formal (meaning, at least 4 days a week) in order to get credit; I need this experience to count for credit to graduate. I actually sent this email to the program director yesterday so I'll let you know the response:

-Do you have any formal curriculum established for 4th year medical students? Are there requirements or a checklist for the 4 weeks?
-Are there any opportunities in Anesthesiology or Emergency medicine? Would I be functioning as a sub-intern or would I be an observer?
-During August 2010, September 2010, October 2010, how many medical, dental, pharmacy students are you expecting?
-Are excursions easy to set up? Are there any formal trips planned to help us see the country?
-I checked the website, how do I go about applying?

I'm interested to hear feedback from others who've attended this program. Thanks!

 

[PlasticMan]

Just email Dr. Rodas Sr. He'll set everything up for you. He's great. The rotation is the real deal. When in Cuenca, you'll operate on the truck 2 days a week, and work either in the regional hospital or a rural health clinic (better experience IMO) the other 3 days. Once a month, they do week long trips to some remote location, where you will perform alot of operations on the truck. Try to learn as much Spanish as you can before you go. Be careful when you're down there; unfortunately, S. America is a bit more dangerous than most places in the States as I experienced this firsthand several times. Dr. Rodas, Dra. Anita and the rest of the Cinterandes staff are wonderful, dedicated people and I can't say enough good things about them.

 

[Raygun77]

Jeffreyleow, Plasticsman, If you could post any more updates on your experiences that would be great!

I'm an australian med student, 4th year so would be applying for an elective January-ish 2012. I'm not sure what medical speciaility I'm interested in, but probably something procedurally-oriented.

My specific questions would be-

In terms of what you did- what was your experience operating like, compared to in your own hospital? What responsibilities where you given, and what was the typical case load?

What was the living arrangement like?

And, what grasp of spanish did you have when completing the elective?

Cheers!
Ray

 

[Surgical FMG]

Ray,

i understand you want to find out as much as possible before committing to the costs associated with traveling and the 190USD/wk for "tuition" which is really to support the work of Cinterandes.

ive heard some good things from my housemate who is currently there at the moment. i DID NOT go in the end, and opted to head to North America instead. i figured i will be able to go to the 3rd world country more easily as a doctor.

u should PM me and we can work something out, e.g. get my housemate to speak to u in melbourne.

 

[thisnina]

hi everyone,

I know this is a pretty old post but does anyone have the contact details of the cinterandes foundation? I've been researching my elective for a while, finally decided to go with cinterandes only to find their website is down!

My elective is next april-may so I'm keen to get on and get it organised, any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

nina

 

[Surgical FMG]

hi everyone,

I know this is a pretty old post but does anyone have the contact details of the cinterandes foundation? I've been researching my elective for a while, finally decided to go with cinterandes only to find their website is down!

My elective is next april-may so I'm keen to get on and get it organised, any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

nina

i would recommend visiting the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Cinterandes?fref=ts and go from there.

 

[darthmicrobius]

Hello... Im a 3rd year student in the US and Im interested in doing a month long rotation with Cinterandes. I mainly want to participate in the program to better my espanol and I cant really see myself going into surgery; Im more interested in IM or EM. I was wondering if someone who has participated could share with me if they think that doing the elective would be worth it for someone in my situation. I would greatly appreciate any PM or adive on this thread... thanks!

 

[jabberwocky0619]

hello! is anyone going to be doing the cinterandes program this summer? i will be there from mid may - mid june and would love to connect with anyone before we leave! Also, any advice from people who have done this program in the past about specific rotations to request would be greatly appreciated. thanks!