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COM Outlook . Summer-Fall 2014
GLOBAL OUTREACH
NSU-COM Coordinates
Inaugural Medical
Outreach Trip to Brazil
By OMS-I Courtney O’Brien and OMS-I Karen Muschler
Following a long red-eye flight, the first
day of the trip began with an early Saturday
morning arrival into Rio de Janeiro. The
desire to nap—a well-known habit of medi-
cal students—soon dissipated as our bus
drove over the bridge to Niteroi, where we
would be staying and working at the clinic.
Niteroi is Rio’s sister city across the bay that
is known for having the most breathtak-
ing views of Rio de Janeiro. With our faces
pressed against the window, we were mes-
merized by the beauty of this ethereal city.
Rio was a perfect juxtaposition between a
big metropolitan city and a tropical paradise,
nestled among jungle-inhabited mountains
that jutted out of the Atlantic sea and stretch-
es of sandy white beaches. The Christ the
Redeemer statue stood pristinely on a high
mountaintop in the background of the Tijuca
rainforest, overlooking the entire city and
serving as a protector of its people. Although
slightly drained from traveling and our Fri-
day microbiology exam, we looked forward
to discovering the hidden gems of this city
the moment we arrived.
The first two days of our trip included
a tour around Rio’s many recognized sites,
including the Rio de Janeiro Cathedral, the
Municipal Theater, the market of Ipanema,
During the week of
March 22-29, a group of
12 first-year students
participated in the inau-
gural NSU-COM Medical
Outreach Trip to Brazil.
While this was our first
medical outreach trip,
some of us were world
travelers, while others
had only been out of the
country a few times. De-
spite these differences,
the destination of our
medical outreach to
Niteroi/Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, was unlike any
foreign place most of us
have traveled to before.
and the Christ the Redeemer statue. We
strolled along the infamous black-and-white
mosaic streets of Rio, absorbing the bustle
of the city, taking pictures, and interacting
with the locals. After a full day of walking, we
sipped from fresh coconuts on the beach and
drank in the serenity as the waves collapsed
onto the shore. We had worked up quite
the appetite and concluded the weekend
with a group dinner at a traditional Brazilian
churrasco steakhouse that served us enough
delicious meat to last the entire week.
During the dinner, Dr. Faillace, an
NSU-COM pediatrician, prepared us for the
following morning at the clinic and shared
with us the story of his medical education
in Brazil. It was an eventful and pleasant
weekend of tourism, but we were ready to
finally work in the clinic we had heard so
much about. When we returned to the ho-
tel, we ended the night by relaxing on the
rooftop, where we soaked in the panoramic
view of the lit-up city and mentally pre-
pared for the week ahead.
The first day of clinic work consisted of
introductions to the staff, the translators,
and several medical students from Niteroi’s
medical university. Two Brazilian medical
students helped us with translation through-
Rightfully so, Brazil is a country that is very proud of its history and distinct Latin flare,
which sets it apart from the rest of South America. Part of Brazil’s uniqueness lies in
the fact that it is the only country in South America that speaks Portuguese. Regard-
less of the number of stamps we each had on our passports, we shared one common
pitfall—none of us could speak the language. Fortunately, our preceptor Rogerio
Faillace, M.D., grew up in Niteroi and received his medical education at the local uni-
versity. Our other preceptors included Almos Trif, Ph.D., who has served on previous
medical outreach trips, and Daniel Murchison, D.O., a 2013 NSU-COM graduate.
