08/26/2026
SUMMER CIVIC LEADERSHIP ADVENTURE
⚕️😷🩺 Riobamba, Ecuador, was the destination this Summer for HSA Vice President 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦. 🇪🇨
As a MedLife civic leader, the Biology Pre-Med senior worked with indigenous communities who spoke a combination of Spanish and Kichwa. To gain the trust of a community that relies on traditional healers, Brianna:
🤔🔎💡 worked creatively while evaluating concerns (from hip pain to pap smears) of Catholic female patients who preferred to have husbands present, yet also declined examinations that required exposing shoulders, upper legs, abdomen, and the like
💨🫁 adjusted expectations for patients’ oxygen saturation levels: under 93% usually warrants medical attention, but the high elevation of this Andes Mountains region means healthy patients are usually within 85% to 89%
🚰🛢💧 helped construct a community water tank and distributed medicine that was sourced locally, all to ensure patients can continue treatment after volunteers leave
“On one of our first days in Ecuador, we met with the community that requested the water tank and spent the day learning to milk a cow 🥛🐄, shear a sheep 🐑, and had the opportunity to taste local grains🌾. The trip was definitely hard work as we combated altitude sickness, reduced oxygen, and even hiked up hills with bags of rocks,” Brianna says.
💯🙌 “But was worth it a million times over because at the end of the day, medicine is not just for those who can afford it, understand it, or who live near it, but for all lives.”
Lamar University College of Arts & Sciences
