To provide direct health care in a free clinic, to educate the community regarding disease prevention, to link the community with existing resources, to provide cross-cultural exchange, and to train health care students. The Mayan Medical Project has been a yearly medical trip to medically isolated Mayan villages on the Yucatan peninsula since 1989. Projects involve setting up and administering a free clinic for 1 week per year.
Clinic staff are a mix of health care workers from the United States and Mexico.
A community health program of education is also undertaken. Medical trainees, including medical students and nurse practitioner students, are involved in ways that allow education along with participation. Impact on Patients Care that they otherwise would not have received, including disease prevention, screening, identification, and treatment. Need in Community Maya villages on the Yucatan peninsula have a high disease prevalence but often have poor access to health-care resources. In addition, indigenous people are often alientated from the health-care system which does exist.