Dr. Rafael Vela and myself nearing the end of a successful week of clinics.

by Aetna’s Tom Sopel

La Antigua, Guatemala — Hello, my name is Tom Sopel and I’m an EMT here at Aetna. This past January I flew to Guatemala to work under the Medical Humanitarian Society of Uconn in order to provide patient care to rural areas of Guatemala. The culture was as vibrant as it was care free, the kind of atmosphere that lets you slow your clock down and loosen up your laces. I guess you can say that an important medical lesson I learned out there was that the human body naturally wants to smile when it’s never been exposed to (Hartford) winter. But seriously, the place was amazing. We spent two weeks in various villages across Guatemala running health care clinics, working with hundreds of patients to provide much needed medical treatment for those in need.

Out there we were met by our friend and translator, Jorge Hernandez who helped us with organizing patient care sites and Dr. Rafael Vela, who was an amazing doctor who would volunteer his time to go with us out to the different villages and coffee plantations spotted across the jungles of Guatemala. Continue reading →