Dominican Republic Medical Brigade
This past January, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic with the College of Nursing (CoN). CoN partnered with an organization called Timmy Global Health, whose goal is to lessen disparities throughout various countries. We spent 8 days there participating in a medical brigade, along with other American medical professionals. Prior to the trip, we were responsible for fundraising $3000 to buy the medications that we were planning to take with us on the trip. We were able to raise about $1500 and were still able to get all the medications we needed. During the trip, we were able to learn about the different health disparities in the DR and practice the basic skills we learned from clinicals, work alongside other medical professions (doctors, nurse practitioner, pharmacy tech, medical students and physician’s assistant), and go on different excursions.
Five of the days we traveled to 5 different bateys (neighborhoods) and set up our clinic to meet with the patients. Each batey is fenced in and the houses are in close proximity to each other. Each batey had space for us to set up our clinic either outdoors or in old classrooms. Setting up our clinic consisted of a triage (admissions), history (why patient is there), consult (doctor’s evaluation), pharmacy (patients receive medication), and education (patients receive glasses). There were up to 6-7 translators with us each day that helped us communicate with the patients.
We stayed in a beautiful hotel on a beach, which was about 30 minutes away from the bateys we traveled to. There was a beach right in front of the hotel that we could walk to in our spare time. On our off days and in our free time, we were able to go to a couple of different beaches and tour the town we stayed in. The last day we were there we went took boats to a beach and spent the entire day there.
In a sense, my experience changed from what I originally thought it was going to be. Prior to getting to the DR, I thought that it was just going to be us students and the two faculty/staff members the entire brigade. When we were going to our orientation, I realized that there were other medical professions there with us. That was cool because we were able to see how the doctors, pharmacy tech, as well as the other professions with their interaction with the patients. Other than that, I didn’t know what to expect from the trip. My main purpose was to be able to help the people there and that was accomplished.
I learned a lot about the preparation that goes into traveling overseas for a medical brigade. I learned what paperwork is necessary for taking medications and vitamins into another country. Also, I got a glimpse of the planning that it took for us to be prepared for when we got to the DR.
This opportunity encouraged me even more to be a travel nurse. I felt like this experience was just a glimpse of what a travel nurse does in another country would be but on a smaller scale. I know there are many specific requirements for travel nurses, especially for ones that want to travel outside of the country, so I will do what it takes to meet those requirements. Overall, this trip was a wonderful experience and I’m so thankful for being able to go!
Five of the days we traveled to 5 different bateys (neighborhoods) and set up our clinic to meet with the patients. Each batey is fenced in and the houses are in close proximity to each other. Each batey had space for us to set up our clinic either outdoors or in old classrooms. Setting up our clinic consisted of a triage (admissions), history (why patient is there), consult (doctor’s evaluation), pharmacy (patients receive medication), and education (patients receive glasses). There were up to 6-7 translators with us each day that helped us communicate with the patients.
We stayed in a beautiful hotel on a beach, which was about 30 minutes away from the bateys we traveled to. There was a beach right in front of the hotel that we could walk to in our spare time. On our off days and in our free time, we were able to go to a couple of different beaches and tour the town we stayed in. The last day we were there we went took boats to a beach and spent the entire day there.
In a sense, my experience changed from what I originally thought it was going to be. Prior to getting to the DR, I thought that it was just going to be us students and the two faculty/staff members the entire brigade. When we were going to our orientation, I realized that there were other medical professions there with us. That was cool because we were able to see how the doctors, pharmacy tech, as well as the other professions with their interaction with the patients. Other than that, I didn’t know what to expect from the trip. My main purpose was to be able to help the people there and that was accomplished.
I learned a lot about the preparation that goes into traveling overseas for a medical brigade. I learned what paperwork is necessary for taking medications and vitamins into another country. Also, I got a glimpse of the planning that it took for us to be prepared for when we got to the DR.
This opportunity encouraged me even more to be a travel nurse. I felt like this experience was just a glimpse of what a travel nurse does in another country would be but on a smaller scale. I know there are many specific requirements for travel nurses, especially for ones that want to travel outside of the country, so I will do what it takes to meet those requirements. Overall, this trip was a wonderful experience and I’m so thankful for being able to go!