Bloody buckets, crying children and intestinal worms sound more like a slasher movie scene than a summer vacation, but it’s a day’s work for University students administering medical care in clinics to underprivileged communities abroad. Medical mission trips are becoming more popular and accessible to college students, and some University travelers leave the U.S. multiple times to serve challenged regions with medical care.  Andrew Keller, biological engineering junior, said most of the conditions he dealt with in Guadalupe and Chicacao, Guatemala, were preventable. “The gynecology team had seen more cervical cancer than this one [U.S.] doctor had seen in 30 years of practice,” Keller said. “If they had been in the states, it would never happen. People just walk it off down there.”  Caitlyn Louviere, biological sciences junior, said patients often waited for hours in anguish for care in Granada, Nicaragua, and doctors often showed up late for surgery — and the lack of concern alarmed her. Louviere said a cleft palate surgery, an out-patient procedure that usually takes about an hour in the U.S., incurred a day-long recovery in Nicaragua. She said early detection could prevent a large part of the ailments suffered there. Medical and health care missions were the second highest-searched category for mission trips after orphanage work, according to a report of Web site trends from January through April for Mission Data International’s ShortTermMissions.com, a leading mission-trip database. Medical missions are consistently in the top three searches, according to the survey, and 31 percent of users are college-aged. The percentage of college-student participants rose 7 percent since last year, according to the survey. Meagan McMahone, sociology junior and vice president of missions at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry, said interest in BCM’s yearly trip to Mexico has recently increased, but the team was unable to go last year because of drug cartel conflict.  The University is lacking in clubs dedicated solely to the organization of medical missions, but students have opportunities to serve through organizations like the Christian Veterinary Fellowship and trips hosted by various church communities. Some students’ reach has extended to Africa, Asia, and Central and South America — regions where the life expectancy from birth is lower than in the U.S. According to statistics by the World Health Organization, heart disease, brain disease, pulmonary complications, diabetes, lung and breast cancers and traffic accidents are among the top causes of death in the U.S., where life expectancy is 75 for men and 80 for women.In African countries like Niger and Uganda, where life expectancy is in the 40s, leading causes of death include HIV and AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, measles, tetanus, whooping cough and diarrhoeal diseases caused by water contamination — problems that have been virtually eradicated in the U.S.Rachel Faxon, nutrition junior, spent two weeks this summer in Kampala, Uganda, where she helped administer care to slum inhabitants.  Faxon said she worked in de-worming clinics to help rid children of intestinal worms contracted from their food and water. Her clinic also treated countless cases of STDs and high blood pressure, she said. “For most people, this was the first time they had ever seen a doctor,” Faxon said.  She said malaria and colds were common problems in Uganda because residents were unaware malaria was caused by mosquito bites. Sanitation often allows for the spread of infectious diseases and hampers medical efforts. Louviere said flies buzzed in operating rooms and doctors rinsed tools over a bucket with water between uses in Nicaragua.Julie McNeil, Student Health Center dietician, warns students to research destinations when planning a medical mission. She said students should be wary of the organizing party, obtain proper vaccines, research meal sources and pack water bottles and sanitary wipes. She advised avoiding meats, cheeses and other dairy as well as rural restaurant fare. McNeil traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2007 to help set up dentistry, medical and pharmacy clinics, and she said impoverished rural areas still suffered the remnants of the civil war there in the 1970s. She witnessed goiters, discoloration and deficiencies resulting from malnourishment  — things she said she had previously seen only in books. The leading cause of death in Cambodia is HIV and AIDS, according to WHO.Wesley Shrum, sociology professor, said mission participants’ motivation often lies in their desire for a personal experience. But he said some endeavors cause more harm than good.”Your participation in this kind of aid system also helps to perpetuate a kind of dependency in the countries themselves,” he said.Caitlyn Haines, dietetics senior, spent two weeks this summer in Tlaxiaco, Mexico, and said abuse against women was rampant in the area. She said police and the women themselves grew to ignore the problem. “We have amazing education,” Haines said. “Anytime we were in our scrubs, [Mexican patients] would refer to you as ‘doctor,’ like you had this amazing education.” – – – -Contact Sarah Lawson at [email protected]