Lt. Sarah Pope and Lt. Kelly Koren of Naval Hospital Bremerton’s Puget Sound Family Medicine Residency program are taking their
training where it has never gone before, the far side of the Pacific.
The two are forward deployed in support of Pacific Partnership 2008 on USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) and just participated in humanitarian
and civic assistance missions on Papua New Guinea (PNG) with the Federated States of Micronesia next on their itinerary, the final
stop in support of Pacific Partnership 2008. Pacific Partnership 2008 brings together host and partner nation civilian and medical
personnel and construction teams.
The four-month humanitarian and civic deployment aims to strengthen relations in Southeast Asia and Oceania. When the possibility
of joining the mission cropped up, both immediately applied and joined the Mercy mission before PNG.
“I was lucky to be one of two from Puget Sound Family Medicine Residency Program and one of several residents from different training
programs to participate,” said Pope.
“The idea of getting to practice humanitarian medicine in another country has absolutely appealed to me for quite some time,” explained
Pope, a second year resident in Family Medicine at NHB. “It’s one of the many reasons why I became a doctor – to help others who don’t
have the ability to help themselves either because of poverty, illness or lack of medical infrastructure.”
As the crew of the Mercy found out during their mission, access to health care and medical services can be a perennial challenge on the
Pacific Rim. The island nation of Papua New Guinea presented such a scenario. PNG is a mountainous, densely forested country, very near
the equator, with an interior that has just recently been explored.
But when word got out that the Mercy was due, many in need of available medical care found a way to get to the ship or around Port Moresby,
the capital, to visit one of the Medical Civic Action Programs (MEDCAPs). It was there that Pope found plenty of work for her medical skill.
According to Pope, the best way to describe a MEDCAP to those unfamiliar with the concept is that it’s similar to a mobile super clinic. 
“There’s a lab, pharmacy, optometry, physical therapy, dental and medical care,” she said.
As one might expect, handling the patient load in an equatorial Pacific island setting was vastly different than in an antiseptic shipboard
environment.
“Seeing patients at a MEDCAP is very different,” Pope explained. “One of the most striking differences is the lack of privacy and often times,
space. I’ve seen patients in the basements of churches, school classrooms and outside with nothing but a metal roof over my head and a dirt
floor under my feet under varying weather conditions. Confidentiality can be difficult to maintain, but we do our best.”  
Many of the medical problems that Pope handled were very similar to dealing with eligible beneficiaries back home. Yet there were some she
had not encountered. “Low back pain, knee pain, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart burn were some of the most common conditions I
treated,” Pope said. “Stuff I rarely see, but saw quite a bit in PNG included leprosy, tuberculosis, malaria and several interesting skin infections.” 
Besides the obvious medical advantages of the MEDCAPs, the humanistic aspect was equally valuable.
“The most gratifying aspect of Pacific Partnership has been the human interactions. What I experienced was amazing,” said Pope. “Never have
I taken care of so many appreciative and grateful groups of individuals!” 
After departing PNG, USNS Mercy arrived in Chuuk last week for the final mission of Pacific Partnership 2008. It’s the fifth and final stop for
the four-month humanitarian deployment to Southeast Asia and Oceania.