Salybia Mission Project

I got an opportunity to participate in the most popular club on campus, Salybia Mission Project.   I participated on behalf on the special men’s clinic that emphasized prostate health, sexual health education, and occupational injury prevention.  It was by far my favorite club experience thus far.

It is the only club that caters to the Kalinago people, the natives of Dominica.  I was surprised by how large the clinic was.  There was a lunge room, waiting room, and about 10 or more other rooms including a currently unoccupied dentist room.  Our team from Ross included a couple of doctors, a chiropractor, and about 16 students.  At the clinic were a nurse and doctor and other staff that work at the clinic during the week. 

We began by presenting a rectal model to the patients which allowed them to visualize how the digital rectal exam was done.  The model had multiple types of prostates that can be replaced, some with lumps some normal so the patients could feel for themselves.  This was done in hopes of easing the anxiousness of the patients and improve understanding.  And yes, some of us got an opportunity to preform a digital rectal exam.  The patients were very gracious in allowing us to learn how to feel for the prostate on them.  When I first placed my finger into the patient’s rectum, I tried to keep my face straight to no avail, good thing the patient couldn’t see my face.  My finger slid further until I felt lumps as I slide my finger to the left and right.  The first patient’s prostate was more enlarged on the right side. Therefore, the doctor ordered a PSA test to help determine the possibility of cancer.  His case was of specific concern because the prostate was more enlarged on one side than the other.

One of the things that the vast majority of men will deal with, especially men above 55, will be an enlarged prostate.  This can disrupt the flow of urine, which can lead to common symptoms including: frequently waking up to pee at night (nocturia), polyuria, a feeling like the bladder isn’t fully emptied after urination, dribbling of the urine, or a thin stream of urine.  Sometimes these cases are related to an infection of the prostate, which led us to explaining brochures of different sexually transmitted diseases.

Overall, the clinic was a huge success and seemed to run very smoothly.