I went out with our Public Affairs section and some Panamanian journalists to observe the MEDRETE in Chitre. SOUTHCOM sponsors several of these Medical Readiness Training Exercises all over Latin America every year. The idea is for military doctors to get some experience for for needy Panamanians to receive free services. It was amazingly organized, with the locals lining up at the gym of a local school and standing in line to be weighed and measured and then speaking to a doctor to determine their particular need. Then, they moved to the medical "offices" which were set up in classrooms. They had everything from optometrists who handed out glasses on the spot to pediatricians, dentists and gynecologists. By the time I arrived, several days into the Chitre MEDRETE, they had already served more than 5000 persons.
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