Show V V Only Hispanic private practice in V Frank Penman Staff Writer WHEN A HEN I saw the dead bodies ha hanging ging fr from fromY Y Y the the National Guard trucks I I 1 knew this was a dangerous place and it was time to to leave said Lombardo Palma a doctor from Nicaragua 1 V V who now ow practices medicine in Salt Lake City On liOn July 14 1977 I flew to Chicago and began V. V V to practice med medicine cine at the Illinois Medical Cen Cen- C n- n ter Palma the tenth child in a family with 14 children was sent to medical school in Nicaragua by the Sandinista government Under Undera a program that was designed to help families with many children Palma had to work in Nicaragua for one year after he completed medical medical medi medi- V cal school It was while he was working in the mountains a place Palma called the gateway V for Jor the Contra r rebels bels into Nicaragua that he saw national guard trucks with dead bodies and decided to leave Palma who had family members members members mem mem- bers already living in Yn Chicago practiced med medicine cine ln in Chicago fro from In 1977 to 1980 when he was was' accepted with a fellowship p in teaching medicine at the University of Utah Palma also opened his private practice in family and preventive medicine and is the only Hispanic to todo todo todo do so in At the 1992 graduation ceremony Palma received d an honorary degree for his work in the Hispanic community Hes a doctor who seems concerned about his patients and has a good bedside manner He is easy to talk to to said Joleen loleen Hoelscher one of Palmas Palma's patients Many of Palmas Palma's patients are referred to him by other doctors because he is Hispanic and speaks the language Palmas Palma's hum humanitarianism is displayed by his willingness to treat AIDS patients Nicaragua is now run by a coalition government government government govern govern- ment of and Contras and since the elections of 1989 when Chamorro became president president president dent the economy which is mostly agricultural is taking a long time to recover Palma who has family members still living in Nicaragua said life in Nicaragua has improved under the present form of government u |