Inaugural Medical Mission to the Philippines
By Devin Castillo
In 1869, three Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word demonstrated how their love of God motivated them to serve those less fortunate when they traveled to San Antonio to minister to the sick and poor. Their selfless act and subsequent years of compassionate work still inspire the University to uphold service as one of the five core values of the institution’s Mission, ensuring the curriculum promotes global perspectives and community service.
Throughout the years, the UIW community has continued to build upon the foundation the Sisters laid down all those years ago, finding ways to aid local and global communities with their own unique needs.
In this spirit, Dr. Karen Jaceldo-Siegl, then director of the Master of Public Health program at the UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine (UIWSOM), recently led UIW’s inaugural study abroad trip to the Philippines.
As a Filipina woman born in the municipality of Carigara and the daughter of a retired physician, she got to observe as her father played a major role in administering medical care to her home community. Now as a public health professional herself, she too gets to help make an impact by providing medical aid to those in need, including her family back in Carigara.
“My father told me when I returned to the Philippines in 2018 that I would meet some of the poorest people in the world and that I would be touched,” recalled Jaceldo. “I didn’t genuinely consider that statement until I got there and experienced it. My perspective of the Philippines changed every time I went, and I thought that this is where I could make a real public health impact and give back to my birthplace.”
Now a full-time UIW faculty member, she was encouraged by colleagues to utilize UIW’s resources to coordinate the University’s inaugural study abroad and medical mission trip to the Philippines. She felt that this was the perfect opportunity to carry on her father’s legacy of serving Filipino communities, as well as welcome UIWSOM students and faculty to participate in a valuable service-learning experience.
She was advised by Sr. Walter Maher, CCVI, vice president of Mission and Ministry, to reach out to the Ettling Center for Civic Leadership and Sustainability (ECCLS) to help develop her idea for the trip. Given that the Center often sponsors trips to help develop global leaders who promote social justice in partnership with members of the diverse global community, she found that the Center could be a resource to help make her dream a reality.
“When I got to speak with her (Jaceldo) to discuss what she was trying to do, we found that this trip clearly aligned with the Mission of the Center and the University,” shared Teofilo Reyes Jr., assistant director for Leadership and Global Engagement of the ECCLS.
From there, the ECCLS sponsored the trip by aiding with the costs of lodging, food and more, affording students the opportunity to participate in the project without worrying about financial constraints.
In addition to the help of the ECCLS, collaborations with Worlds Apart – One Heart, a nonprofit healthcare organization, and Holy Cross College of Carigara also help to usher in essential resources such as healthcare practitioners, medical equipment, medicine, financial donations and more.
Jaceldo noted that in the last two months before the trip, her UIWSOM colleagues and other connections offered donations when she was falling short of her goal for supplies and supplemented student travel costs. Sheila Janek Boyle, PharmD and Dr. G. Richard Holt, UIWSOM professor contributed funds to support UIW student, Cecilia T.J. Siegl. Additionally, practitioners in pharmacy, psychiatry and gynecology donated resources such as medications from a recently closed pharmacy that would’ve otherwise been discarded dietary supplements, antidepressants, 300 speculums and surgical gloves.
“By the grace of God, everybody wanted this to be successful. I wanted to broaden my students’ perspectives on what it means to have limited medical and health resources, and I wanted them to also understand how to work with the community,” Jaceldo shared, feeling touched and supported.
Dr. Rachel Pittman, assistant professor of pharmacology and four UIWSOM students in their second year (OSM-II) of medical school joined Jaceldo and the medical mission team to the Philippines: Madeleine Mitcham, Nichole Josue, Shayne Saborrido and Alyssa Ahorro.
While visiting the Filipino municipalities of Carigara, Palompon and Limon, Jaceldo and her team were able to help 1,221 people during their four days of clinical work. Services that the team provided included circumcisions, surgical removal of cysts, dental care and extractions, pediatric care, medication and dietary supplement prescriptions, pap smears and treatment of chronic, cardiac and diabetic diseases.
Participating students were instructed to rotate throughout the majority of these medical tasks, allowing them to participate in admitting patients, dispensing medications, observing and assisting in minor surgeries, gaining first-person experience in a variety of consultations.
“We would have 400-500 patients waiting outside of our site, and a student asked me if we were going to be able to help all of them,” shared Reyes. “Not in the sense that they felt obligated, but rather that they didn’t want to leave knowing that there were people that still needed help.”
Some days were challenging, as rains, limited medical resources and a surplus of patients needing care added high levels of stress to both medical personnel and patients, but the medical team persisted forward and adapted to the challenges to provide the best possible care for all patients. Reyes even remembers one student cutting into their lunch break because their desire to treat their remaining four patients was more important to them.
“My ability to adapt and be patient was challenged since we were serving a community that lacked basic health care and we were only working with what we had,” shared Shayne Saborrido, OSM-II. “It really motivated me to find ways to improve so that patients could obtain the care they deserved in an environment that’s comfortable for them.”
Reyes explained that the Ettling Center staff challenges students to not have transactional interactions, but rather be present to fully engage in humane and compassionate interactions with the people they meet. This action of taking the time to know, empathize and see the people they treat in their entirety can help them become quality future healthcare practitioners.
“Sr. Walter and I had a conversation before this trip she researched about what the Mission of the institution is and how we live it. She explained it best. The Mission is to make God’s love tangible and visible,” shared Reyes. After having witnessed the patience, consideration, strength and integrity demonstrated by the students, faculty and other team members, he is confident that this trip was an undeniable representation of the University’s Mission.
While reflecting on the results of this medical mission, Jaceldo remembers that during the early stages of coordinating this trip, she researched the CCVI Sisters and the work they had done. Their history of medical contributions included the establishment of San Antonio’s first hospital helped to inspire Jaceldo as she led the first UIWSOM ECCLS sponsored medical mission to the Philippines.
“This medical mission meant to me that we are following God's will. We provided free medical care and medications, and we did our best to ensure that patients were served because these services are necessary, whether for cultural or medical reasons," shared Jaceldo. "With compassion, creativity and patience, we were able to provide these services so that people from all walks of life could receive the help they deserve. These actions align well with the teachings and mission of the CCVI Sisters.”