Friday 2/14/14

Dr. Alice helping a student with a crutch down some stairs

Friday was a very good day. The morning started with a hike up the mountain near FLC for Timothy, Abraham, Susan, Rick, Alice, and Lindsey. The view of the sunrise from the top was amazing.
The students got a chance to use their new knowledge about assistive devices. They practiced going up and down stairs with crutches and canes. Dr. Susan McDowell wrapped up her last day with a lecture on the eye. 

Dr. Susan lecturing on the eye

After lunch, the students presented Dr. Susan with a farewell gift to thank her for traveling all this way to teach them this valuable medical knowledge.  

The afternoon consisted of review of class material, and the weekly test. The students have officially mastered using the ARS (audience response system), and have improved their grades since the first test.

In reviewing back and neck pain as it relates to position, we noticed some confusion. We called on one of the students that had neck pain. He did not know why he had pain but noticed he had pain when he was reading or working on the computer for a long time. We asked to see how he read and he picked up his book while sitting in the chair at the table. His position was not bad but when we asked more questions he revealed that he does not read at a table or even in a chair. He reads sitting on the floor fully flexed forward. We asked him to demonstrate exactly how he reads and the cause of his neck pain was obvious (See picture). This was a great example for the class and for us westerners not to assume we know how they do things in their villages.

Friday night, we took the students into Chiang Mai to the night market. It was the first time most of them have seen a big city. We all crammed into two songtaews (yellow trucks). A couple of the boys who got to stand on the back got off at the red lights, looked around, and hopped back on when the light turned green! When we got to the night market, they all looked around amazed! Timothy’s family donated noodles from their booth so that each student got the full experience of the night market. On the way home, some of the students fell asleep on the way back. We had fun taking their pictures and laughing together.

Rick, Alice, and Lindsey