Internship report | Philippines 2023

Organization:
https://www.mabuhay-stfrancis-healthcare.com

White sandy beaches, palm trees, countless hours of sunshine and beaming faces after patient marathons – this and much more was made possible for us during our five weeks of internship abroad in Mabuhay in the Philippines.
We had long dreamed of doing an internship abroad during the semester break as students, but Corona initially postponed our plans for two years because we were unable to get a Philippine visa due to the pandemic. Now we are so proud and grateful that we were able to implement our plan after our exams as qualified dentists. We can recommend an internship abroad to every student, newly qualified dentist, or experienced colleague and hope that our report motivates you to embark on such an adventure.
After selecting the project, our (re)planning began with Doc Lindner's confirmation and determination of the exact time period around a year before departure. He organizes the dental internships for the "Mabuhay" project from Germany and is available to answer any questions. The next step was to book our flights six months before departure - as recommended, we flew to Manila via Singapore and from there on to Catarman with enough time in between. We were able to postpone the rest of the organization until after the exam with a clear conscience and around four months before departure we launched a call for donations for materials, took care of the recommended vaccinations (rabies) and the visa (make sure to find out beforehand whether the Philippine embassy in Berlin or Frankfurt is responsible). Thanks to the generous willingness of the (dental) companies, we were able to send three large packages on their way (as recommended via Anne Korth in Bonn). We would like to thank Hu Friedy, Bausch, Dürr Dental, Ivoclar, Frasaco, Coltene/Wahldent, Henry Schein, Zahnimarkt, NTI, Septodont, Busch and DMG for this. Now that we have been able to gain an overview of the project on site, we can recommend the following for future interns: anesthetic (!), wadding rolls, foam pellets, we would have been happy to receive a desmotome, composites (especially Flows), etching gel, scissors, needle holders, (children's) toothbrushes and toothpaste, dental floss, extra items for children and gloves. From our own experience, we can recommend traveling with a backpack for better planning.
It is much more practical and comfortable, especially for transport in tricycles. Other packing items include: short, light, durable clothing, long trousers/a long dress for church, possibly water shoes, books are available locally, a pair of sneakers, a good pair of comfortable open shoes (flip-flops/Birkis), no rain protection necessary, enough mosquito spray from the pharmacy (e.g. AnFBrumm - we can also recommend the Philippine Off-LoFon from the drug store), enough sunscreen (be careful - Philippine products contain bleach), a jute bag, bum bag, adapter, music box, magnifying glasses (we found these extremely helpful, especially because of the light!). The day of our departure was getting closer and our trip finally started in mid-April. After a night at the gate of the airport in Manila (you can easily survive that J) we met by chance the pastor "Father Sandy" from the small community of Bugko, where Mabuhay is also stationed. He immediately associated us with Mabuhay (like everyone we met on the street in Northern Samar) and took us straight to his beach house for lunch with friends. He also proved to be an "authorized kidnapper" over the course of our entire trip and enabled us to make some Filipino friends. Internship report Philippines - Antonia Borchard & Juliane Orth - May 2023 After he delivered us safely to Mabuhay with full stomachs, we were warmly welcomed by sisters Veronica and Sabine. Unlike most interns, we arrived on Friday - only later did we find out that arrival on Sunday was actually desired. During the quiet weekend we met Julia from Munich, who had also just qualified and who completed the internship with us. Sister Veronica also gave us a detailed tour of the Mabuhay site. The focal point of the project is the Medical Clinic, run by Sister Sabine, which also includes a laboratory, an operating room for missions by foreign doctors, a pharmacy with a canteen, and a general medical X-ray room.
All employees in Mabuhay are volunteers and donations from abroad make it possible to provide very inexpensive treatments. The site also includes the dental clinic, a herbal center (growing ginger and turmeric to produce medicine), chicken and pig pens, a program for senior citizens including Zumba classes, the new open sports hall with a large playground, a pool and a communal dining area - we were overwhelmed. The dental clinic was in our hands from day one. It includes two treatment rooms with modern units. Fillings and cleanings took place on the blue chair, and we used the green chair mostly for extractions. The clinic is well equipped with materials and you quickly get used to the existing instruments, the improvised sterilization, regular power outages and extractions without suction (this only works in the blue room). Improvisation is commonplace here - a spontaneous change of chair for osteotomy or a treatment while standing are not uncommon. Nevertheless, we were surprised by the good conditions in the clinic, especially considering the poor conditions in the Northern Samar region. The two volunteers Begit and Maria supported us daily with patient admission, cleaning the instruments and translating the island language Wharay. Although English is taught in schools in the Philippines and many people speak English, it was very helpful that we learned the basics right from the start, such as "Lingkod - sit down", "Masu-ol? - pain?", "Nga Nga - open mouth", "Le Mogmog - rinse", "Banhod? - numb?" and "Iton - Geschan". Treatment begins at 8 a.m. on a "first come, first served" basis, which is why some of the first patients were already waiting at the gate before 5 a.m. It took us some getting used to the fact that we were not the ones determining the course of the treatment, but rather the patients came to us with precise ideas about which tooth should be treated and how. In most cases, this affected the acutely painful tooth, for which the patients had saved the money. Contrary to our wishes, we were unable to treat "major problems" due to a lack of financial means. The treatment spectrum mostly included extractions of destroyed teeth and root remnants, even in children. The fillings were mostly occlusal and very large. As there was no X-ray unit, endodontic treatment was unfortunately out of the question and the options for preserving the tooth were limited. Prosthetic services are also not currently possible. For this, expensive dentists in the next larger town have to be visited. Well-off patients were sometimes able to afford cleanings with us and here we can see a positive development, especially with the young patients who benefit from the fluoride program in cooperation with the school.
Everyone, from young to old, sat in our chair at some point. We were also able to treat the children despite the language barrier, which was made possible by dream journeys and playful distractions. We will definitely miss the patience, friendliness and gratitude of the Filipinos in our everyday dental practice in Germany. In addition to our daily treatment, we were very well looked after in Mabuhay and always felt like part of the "Mabuhay family". We enjoyed lunch and dinner together (mostly rice, fish, meat and vegetables from cook Elsa) and ended the occasional evening with a beer with the sisters. The town of Bugko became a real home for us through daily walks, friendships and the openness of the people. After work, there was time to cool off in the pool, read on the beach and play games. We liked to spend our free Wednesday afternoons in nearby Catarman. The trip there by tricycle was an adventure in itself. In Catarman there is a great market where you can buy every kind of tropical fruit you can imagine for breakfast, a supermarket in the mall, various cute cafes, typical Filipino bakeries and shops to browse. There was usually little time for this on the weekends, as they were taken up with spontaneous invitations to birthdays, weddings or the Filipino fiesta. This gave us an authentic insight into Filipino culture, characterized by food, music, dancing and lots of laughter. We also used our free time to take part in the Zumba course of the Senior Citizens program and to explore the beaches in the area. Resorts like "Langtaran" in particular captured our hearts.

On Sundays, the Sisters were always happy when we went with them to the local church service at 8 a.m., which quickly became a routine for us.
The four weeks flew by and we couldn't have imagined a better farewell than a celebration with the Mabuhay family. And so it happened and we spent some lovely hours blessing the new outdoor sports hall with the large children's playground. This was definitely a highlight of our trip because Mabuhay was full of children playing, friends dancing, food yummy and happy faces until late at night. We ended up spending two more days in Manila to have enough time between flights. Even though the hot, crowded city was a complete contrast to life in the provinces, we still had a great time here. Now it's time for us to board the plane with a backpack full of dried mangos, the odd grain of sand in our luggage and the laughter of the Filipinos in our hearts. We will definitely be back and can already imagine another dental visit in Mabuhay.