- [Announcer] El Salvador, ready?
- Welcome, to Doctor Mike's El Salvador trip.
Hey.
(upbeat music plays)
(laughing)
- [Dr. Oz.] You believe docs need to lead by example,
but actually exercise with their patients,
to sort of prime the pump.
- Exactly, so what we did was,
we did a study in my hospital called
Exercise with your physician.
Where we try to see if it would motivate
patients to start an exercise regimen with their doctors.
And what we actually found was,
they become more motivated, they start exercising
more on their own, even after the study has concluded.
Hey guys, what's up?
Doctor Mike here, when I talked about
this study on Doctor Oz, people got excited about it.
Americares heard about my idea of
this practice where you prescribe program
and they said "look we have 1000
"clinics all across the United States,
"why don't we see if in a country like El Salvador,
"you can pilot this program, do a feasibility trial"
and I was blessed with that opportunity
from Americares to be able to do that.
On my first day arriving in El Salvador,
I noticed that the people were incredibly welcoming.
And it surprised me because I didn't
know how I would be welcomed.
They took me to the hotel were I was staying in San Miguel.
After we dropped off our things we said, okay let's go
to the Americares clinic in Usulutan,
which is far on the coast.
I couldn't believe my eyes what I
saw when I got there.
The entire staff of the Americares clinic.
Nurses, doctors, receptionists, they all wore white coats.
Very buttoned up, were all standing in line,
to welcome me to their clinic, and to their country.
Every since I stepped foot in El Salvador
and in your clinic here today,
I felt welcomed like I've never been welcomed
in my life before.
The country obviously deals with a lot
of poverty because of gang issues, corruption,
but also because of it's turbulent history.
In the 1980's they had a very bad civil war
that cost thousands of lives.
They had devastating earthquakes months apart.
Actually one month apart, that left
thousands of people homeless.
A lot of the people that lived there,
they're in poverty.
They don't have well stabilized structures.
They live in houses that they built themselves.
An average salary is something like
$300 a month in El Salvador.
So, people really know how to stretch dollar.
(cheerful music plays)
When we started this exercise program,
patients had their reservations,
some of the doctors had reservations.
Some of the patients were suffering with
knee pain, arthritis.
They said, "how can we do these exercises?"
I remember there was a child with down syndrome,
and the mother was afraid that
he wouldn't be able to follow the directions.
The beauty of this program is,
we have doctors present at all times.
So the doctors were able to be there,
establish a good relationship with these patients,
guide them so they're not hurting themselves.
So they're performing the exercises in the right way.
Everybody got excited.
The patients were excited, the doctors were excited.
At the end of the classes, we were taking group selfies.
I could see smiles on peoples faces.
I could see them saying, I can bring this back
to my community, my village.
And we can do this weekly.
We don't need fancy weights or machines.
All we need is to dedicate 30 minutes,
four times a week, and we can
change the course of our lives.
Everybody on three has to scream,
I am an athlete.
Uno, dos, tres.
- [Class] Soy un atleta.
(cheerful music plays)
What I was able to bring to the Americares clinic
in El Salvador, was evidence based care.
In America, whenever a doctor tell you
"hey you have this ailment, this is the treatment for it"
that's based on a recommendation.
And the strongest level of recommendation comes from,
Meta-Analysis.
Which is a grouping of best, high quality studies.
These doctors in El Salvador,
were fascinated by the idea that,
you can open your phone, and look
up medication, dosages, what was proven to
work better than others.
It really serves as a way to improve the quality
of medicine they deliver every single day.
(speaks in foreign language)
Those doctors are incredibly passionate about
what they do everyday.
They get to know their patients on an individual level.
And from there, they create a plan.
And really that's the smart way to do it.
All this evidence based approach that I've
talked about is great.
But that's population medicine.
That's a great foundation for your knowledge.
But then how to apply it to the individual
sitting in front of you, is really the
way to practice medicine.
So watching these experienced clinicians work,
I'll be it with the help of a translator,
because my Spanish isn't that great.
(speaks in foreign language)
Was truly a unique and rewarding experience.
So no big deal, we're just in the middle
of a huge
volcano.
(upbeat music plays)
Obviously I spent the majority of
my time in the Americares clinic,
but I also tried to spend as much time
as I could outside of the clinic.
Visiting the local communities.
Visiting the beautiful scenery that El Salvador
has to offer.
And what I found was, this country
is a hidden treasure.
(cheerful music plays)
I'm not just protecting this goal,
I'm protecting your health.
All in all, this was such an incredible trip.
To all the beautiful people of El Salvador,
and all the tremendous staff in the
Americares organization,
I owe you a huge thank you.
Oh my God.
Doesn't this hurt your head?
They put up my name written in beans, yes beans.
- [Driver] Now make me look sexy.
- [Mike] That's easy
(laughing) - [Driver] That's easy.
- You got me on camera?
- [Cameraman] Oh yeah.
- Watch me roll.
(laughing)
- Apparently Mike likes these cookies.
- [Mike] Yes!
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