Inside the Clinic: The Coffee Edition
Good morning!
So, I experienced that awful moment earlier that comes with the expectation that you will start the day with a good cup of coffee only to find the bag of coffee beans almost empty. The beans only filled three quarters of my measuring cup and, even though I dug deep into the bag and looked behind the coffee maker to see if there were any stray beans I could dust off and throw in the grinder (I found one), I was forced to reach for my decaf beans (sigh) to make up the difference and ensure I could get my daily dose of two cups. (Why not just one good cup? Too late…or rather, too early!)
As I was waiting for the coffee to brew, I picked up the empty bag to throw it in the recycling bin and stopped to look at it more closely. It was called “Mayan Blend” and highlighted the countries that had once been within the footprint of this ancient civilization – Guatemala mainly, but also parts of Honduras and Mexico. Around the edge were several “pictures” which come from the rather complex and sophisticated Mayan writing system developed over two thousand years ago.
My understanding is that ancient Mayan text can only be interpreted by those learned folks who understand the writing to comprise images that represent a) real objects or actions (pictographs); b) symbolic references to objects or actions and/or adjectives, prepositions, plurals, and numbers (glyphs); and c) phonetic glyphs which represent sounds, correct pronunciation, prefixes, suffixes, pronouns, and verb tenses! Wow!
It truly is amazing how humans have come up with so many variations of communicating with each other – and I’ve shared that amazement before – but as I Googled more about the Mayans, while drinking my (relatively delicious) coffee, I couldn’t help but think of how many of the precious patients we serve are descendants of this incredible civilization and, despite all they are struggling with now, how they must from time to time remember that and feel pride in their heritage - perhaps even find strength in that knowledge when times are tough – and continue to pass on this culture through music, stories, art, and, of course, maintaining indigenous languages such as Mam. See below for a beautiful Mayan musical interlude.
We have such a range of ethnicities and cultures in our patient population, and it is truly wonderful to see them onsite again. Due to the infectious disease protocols still in place, we are not yet back up to the number of patients seen per month as we were pre-COVID (average 110 versus 129 provider visits per month respectively), but we still managed to serve 107 unduplicated patients last quarter – some multiple times - for a total of 318 provider visits. Of course, there are many other services still provided via telehealth including with a provider once a week (with nurse rooming visits beforehand), counseling twice a week, diabetes education and now nutrition (yippee!) on alternate weeks, and medication pick up for patients enrolled in the great NOVA Scripts Central prescription program. Then there are all the patient services provided such as following up on paperwork for enrollment and referrals to secondary specialist and diagnostic services and labs – of which there were 330 last quarter! Everyone is so busy!
Some great news to share is that the small, but mighty Culmore Clinic was one of three free clinics in the Commonwealth to be selected by VAFCC to participate in the MAVEN project over the coming year. The MAVEN (Medical Alumni Volunteer Expert Network) Project recruits physicians in over 53 specialties to support providers like ours serving vulnerable communities. This is very exciting for us because getting specialty in-person referrals can be very time-consuming and difficult to schedule and having specialists online to support our provider team may help reduce the number of referrals needed. MAVEN project also offers further education credits and mentoring, so it is really an incredible opportunity for us in service to our patients.
Some other great news is that Ahmed Mostafa, our volunteer physical therapist will be returning to Culmore Clinic to see patients again! Welcome!!
To end this update, I thought I would include a note from our Counselor Coordinator, Rita Siebenaler:
“July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. The Counseling team at Clinic endeavors to provide professional and culturally competent assessment, support, and intervention to all patients regardless of their race, ethnicity, cultural identity or orientation. Our mental health services provide a vital link for individuals in crisis, and we partner with medical staff to provide comprehensive care.
Currently we have three active counselors who offer care via telehealth. We hope to resume in-person counseling sessions as soon as conditions permit. We are always interested in adding to our team, so please let your mental health licensed friends and associates know about us.”
B’a’n q’ij teya!*
Anne-Lise
*Have a nice day! in Mam - one of 70 Mayan languages!