Over spring break, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to the Dominican Republic with MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine to learn about healthcare in the Dominican Republic. I honestly had such a great time, made so many new friends, and figured out where I wanted my career to go in the future. I’ve always known that I wanted to be a physician, but this trip really helped me figure out what I want to do specifically.
Day 1
On the first day of the trip, we went on a walking tour and got to see so many different historical sites, like the home of Christopher Columbus’s son, Diego, and La Zona Colonial, which is this very pretty square filled with restaurants and people. We had this really awesome welcome lunch with traditional Dominican food, and then we had the rest of the day to explore. I made some new friends and we walked around Santo Domingo, which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to.
Day 2
The second day of our trip was our first clinical day. Our whole group had 20 undergraduates, so we were split into four groups of five. I really loved the people in my group because they were so nice and also shared the same passion for medicine that I have. This honestly was my favorite clinical day out of the four that we had because we started with a rotation in pediatrics. I love kids, and (for the most part) kids love me. The pediatrician we shadowed was super warm and friendly, and she would always explain things to us in English after she finished talking to her patients and the families. My Spanish prior to the trip was okay, but clinical Spanish is something else, let me tell you. The kids were all so adorable, but the best part was when I was able to distract them when they were getting checked out. There’s nothing more heartwarming than comforting a crying or sick child.
Later that day, we got to attend a lecture at UNIBE – Universidad Iberoamericana. UNIBE has such a pretty campus, and the best part was getting to sit outside for lunch in the beautiful weather! We learned a lot about tropical diseases and HIV, such as how important and prevalent they still are today in Latin America. After our lecture, we got to attend dance class! One of the physicians that worked at the hospital we shadowed at was nice enough to teach us bachata and merengue, and it was so much fun!
In the evening, we walked around the city a little bit more, but we mainly took it pretty easy since we had an extremely long day— we had left the hotel by 7 a.m. and didn’t come back until a little after 6!
Day 3
On the second clinical day, we got to visit INDEN, a diabetic clinic in the Dominican. This part of the trip was definitely the most shocking because when many of us think about diabetes, we just think about people making jokes about eating too much sugar or not exercising enough. We don’t really think about the fact that this is something people seriously struggle with on a day to day basis. Diabetes results in amputations and toes falling off. It results in not being able to see or reach your toes or move around very much. We even saw a patient who had a hole in their foot so deep we could see the bone in their foot. Diabetes is a real, large concern, and seeing people suffer from such severe effects that could be prevented just by changing certain lifestyle factors hit home for me. Some of the other students on the trip talked about how they couldn’t even stay calm because seeing the patients in pain hurt them so much. We also saw the Institute of Tropical Medicine and Global Health while we were at INDEN, and the research that they are doing is extremely interesting.
All of the doctors and other medical staff at INDEN were very well-informed and prepared to handle any situation, and I was very much in awe at their emotional resilience. I hope to channel that as a physician one day. We had another lecture at UNIBE about research. One of the most interesting things I learned was how international countries have so much of a harder time getting their research published because it may not be in English. It’s almost sad to think about how a good majority of the world is bilingual – they speak their native language, but they also have to speak English so that they can communicate with us. I tried so hard to speak Spanish when I could on the trip, but it just goes to show how other cultures are willing to accommodate us. One of my goals in the future is to become fluent in another language, whether that’s Spanish or another language like Telugu or Tamil.
Later that day, we went to the Amber Museum where we saw so many different cool stones! Here’s a picture of some:
Santo Domingo (and the Dominican Republic in general) has so much history, and you can even see it in the population, as many of the people who live there are mixed. It was really cool to see the diversity, especially as someone who is part of a minority herself.
Day 4
On the third clinical day, we rotated in the ER. The way that they treat patients there was actually very similar to the way they treat patients here in the United States, so that was interesting to see. I noticed that a lot of the physicians and residents hand wrote their notes about patients during rounds, and then they would go to update their charts themselves when they had a break. The whole medical staff worked together very efficiently, though, which really relates to the importance of teamwork amongst medical professionals. As a physician, you have to work alongside everyone, as a leader or a player, or else something is likely to go wrong. Learning to play both parts has been something I have been working on all my life, so it was nice to know that it is a skill I will definitely be needing.
Our lecture at UNIBE that afternoon was about the literacy of children in the Dominican Republic, and I absolutely loved our presenter. She clearly was very passionate and loved what she was working on, and she was incredibly inspiring. I loved hearing her talk about the children that she worked with, and it really lit something up inside me because I know I want to work with children as a physician. Her lecture and my rotation in the pediatric unit really confirmed that for me.
Later this evening, we went to KahKow, a chocolate factory. We got to take a tour of the factory, and they showed us how to make our own chocolate!
I ended up making milk chocolate with cocoa pieces and almonds. It was so cool to see all the parts come together, and it tasted amazing too. It was just so pure, and it didn’t taste processed, like the chocolate we normally eat. It was such a good experience.
Day 5
Our last clinical day was the most exciting for me because we got to go into operating rooms and see different surgeries performed. I had never seen any surgeries before, so it was definitely a shock to see patients being operated on. I saw some interesting surgeries, like a hernia repair and a C-section. The C-section was my favorite as there were so many parts to the surgery that came together very quickly. There were the surgeons operating on the mom, who was awake the whole time and very scared, but her anesthesiologist kept her calm. Another doctor was ready for the arrival of the baby, and in what seemed like a matter of seconds, they cut the umbilical cord, made sure the baby turned pink, did the APGAR test, and got blood samples. This was another great example of how healthcare professionals work together – and they’re really good at it. It was so rewarding to see the whole process happen and have the mom meet her baby for the first time. It was something I was never going to forget because there was just so much sheer joy in the room.
That afternoon at UNIBE, we heard from the dean of the medical school who was also a hand surgeon. He also talked to us about tropical diseases but more on how to identify them. We even were given symptoms and diagnosed “patients,” which was actually quite fun. He also talked to us about how the hands of our generation are way more susceptible to carpal tunnel because of the way we hold our phones and the way we type. I thought that this was funny because I’ve gotten carpal tunnel a few times, and as a STEM student who writes a lot, all I have to say is…yikes. That evening we had our farewell dinner, where all of the professors we heard from in the afternoon came to join us. It was really sad because we all knew that our trip was coming to an end.
Day 6
Our very last day in Santo Domingo was really fun because we got to spend the day at the beach! The water was so pretty, and it was so warm. I only have one suggestion – sunscreen is your best friend. A bunch of the people in our group went on a party boat that got to see some of the sights around, which I would recommend if you like snorkeling, but I took the time instead to just chill out and enjoy the sun (because we all know we don’t get enough of that in Michigan).
If I could do this trip all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. I just couldn’t get over how much I learned and how much of an impact this trip had on my future career because now I actually have a sense of what I want to do and what healthcare looks like in a foreign country. I would highly recommend OST 690 to any MSU student interested in pursuing a career in medicine or healthcare in general. I’d also recommend study abroad programs in general. It’s a great experience that forces you out of your comfort zone and allows you to see the world in a new light. This trip truly changed my life for the better, and it’s definitely going to be one of the most enriching experiences that I will get out of my undergraduate studies.