A group of faculty members and a student from Belmont’s College of Pharmacy recently traveled to Honduras as part of the Baptist Medical Dental Mission. Drs. Adam Pace, Leela Kodali, and Emily Russell, a fourth-year student, joined a team of 20 medical professionals for the medical missions trip.
The team set up a medical clinic, dentistry clinic, and pharmacy in a schoolhouse in San Fernando, a rural community in the state of Yoro. Together, they saw more than 1100 patients, dispensed 5300 prescriptions, pulled 240 teeth for 101 patients and distributed 325 eyeglasses. Additionally, the trip included church services and personal evangelism at the medical stations, bringing more than 130 people to Christ.
Pace oversaw the set-up and operation of the dispensing pharmacy, while Kodali provided clinical pharmacy services in the medical clinic by answering providers’ questions about medications and making recommendations about drug therapy.
As part of her advanced pharmacy practice experience, Russell spent the trip primarily in the medical clinic.
Designed for her to compare and contrast the provision of pharmacy services during a mission trip in Honduras to that of a patient population in Nashville, Russell said this experience was incredibly eye-opening.
“I am deeply grateful for this unforgettable experience in the beautiful country of Honduras. It was a privilege to be able to use my current pharmacy skills as well as new skills I acquired while in Honduras to provide healthcare to the Honduran people,” Russell said. “It amazed me how welcoming, trusting and patient they were with our team. This trip opened my eyes to the world outside of the United States and reminded me how powerful healthcare can be as a means of ministering to the hearts of people and showing them the love of God.”
