In March 2020, I ran into a question on the Flying Samaritans board application that read “Do you have any suggestions in improving our organization?” I responded by proposing my idea for telemedicine as a way to provide continuous care for our patients during the pandemic.
At that time, the goal seemed entirely too idealistic and unattainable. Understandably, there was doubt regarding the feasibility of telemedicine; our patients live in low-income, rural areas, which we thought meant low internet bandwidth and lack of technological accessibility. The latter was a misconception believed before we actually gathered data. Through data analysis, we found that 69% of our 48 patients served through telemedicine have access to either a phone or internet connection, which is drastically more than we expected. The other 31% receive care by visiting the church near our clinic sites in either Rancho Escondido or Colonia Margarita Moran, where they use a community leader’s phone during the time of our telemedicine clinics, synonymous to walk-in patients.
Every facet of our organization has been dedicated to transitioning to a virtual platform, which is the only reason the purportedly infeasible transformed into reality. Innovative and resourceful students designed and customized a brand new electronic health records system, modified clinic operations for virtual provision with continued student involvement, created a structure for medication delivery and reimbursement, and allocated funds necessary to achieve the goal. Physicians gave invaluable advice throughout the whole process, and have generously volunteered their time every month to consult with patients while teaching students.
This experience taught me that those things which seem too far-fetched or impossible really are achievable, with compassion, dedication, perseverance, and collaboration. Knowing that my seemingly unrealistic idea has flourished into a beautiful system that provides the care our patients desperately need makes me so incredibly happy. I want to thank every single person who has contributed to this effort - it truly couldn’t have been possible without everyone’s resilience and dedication.
-Grace Park