Dr. Carolina Rosales: providing healthcare for neglected communities

June 22, 2021

 

In her last year of medical school in Mexico, Carolina did her mandatory year of social service in a remote rural community. At the start, she thought she would simply be at a local clinic and would be able to take care of the patients in the community. When she arrived, however, all she found was a small house, which wasn’t properly kitted out as a clinic. Her strongest memory from that time is when a woman arrived with a baby in her hands. The baby didn’t want to eat, had a fever, and was severely malnourished. The baby needed urgent, specialist medical care, but they were somewhere very remote and could not get her to the city. While Carolina did everything she could to help, the baby experienced respiratory failure and died in her arms.

This situation left a very strong impression on Carolina. She promised herself that, as a doctor, she would work to make sure as many situations as this can be avoided. This is how Guimedic came to life. In Mexico, the government stopped giving support to many organizations, and as a result, many communities don’t have access to medical services. These are the communities Carolina works with as part of Guimedic.

A big part of the work is understanding the individual and unique challenge of every location Carolina and her teamwork in. In these underserviced areas, Carolina and her team of doctors deliver medical services. They do this work with volunteers, who often come from different parts of the world and who share Carolina’s passion for the right and access to quality healthcare.

Carolina is particularly concerned about the Mexican government’s neglect of indigenous communities – they are invisible to the government, as many also lack official forms of ID which prevent them from being able to access public hospitals, and the pandemic thus hit them particularly hard.

She is also aware that being in Mexico means that many funds are not available to her, and funds are crucial in being able to continue her work. Medical supplies are expensive, and being able to provide equal access means also being able to provide quality healthcare. This is why she is planning on setting up an office in the USA, as many funds are easier to access if this is the case.

The pandemic also provided her with opportunities to develop her work and think of different ways of access. She is grateful that the Y&Y Fellowship came at this time, as it shows to her that she is not alone and that there are other entrepreneurs around the world who have similar problems in different contexts. After a serious personal medical issue, Carolina decided to take on every challenge that comes her way and not give up. Ending up in such a supportive environment has helped her to keep working and to find ways of planning for a more sustainable future.

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