Congratulations on getting the chance to be a part of this great life changing adventure! The island is the most beautiful place I have ever been to and offers many other amazing things. My advice for you is going to come from 3 lessons I have learned thus far on this rotation.
Lesson 1: Be adventurous, going out of your comfort zone will allow you to enjoy the trip even more!
Before even leaving I had to make sure I had everything packed keens, Chacos, water bottle, flashlight, energy bloks, and lots of workout clothes and much more but do try to pack light. I had to make sure I was working out, they are not kidding around when they suggest this! Once here I feel I have contacted my inner adventurer and have loved every minute of it! Some of the adventures being my first international travel, hiking up mountains every chance I got and trying new foods. Each of the hikes they offer as daily excursions are a great way to push yourself physically and mentally! In the Dominican culture herbal medicine is a way of life. Alternatively, I know in most of our educations herbal medicine is not a large part of 'acceptable medicine' but honestly they must have something right because a women had lived to be 127 here on the island! I have even tried a few remedies myself to treat my skin since being here, and thus far they have worked better than anything else I have tried. On a daily basis we have fruit and foods that have been freshly picked right off the tree or just dug up from the ground. You will never find food this fresh anywhere else.
Lesson 2: Be willing to learn about yourself and those around you
Dr. Abrons, the Albany faculty, the fellow students and anyone you meet while in Dominica is here for you and wants to get to know you as a person. For example as soon as we got off the plane and there were people there greeting us from Jungle Bay with huge smiles and hugs for all! I suggest taking advantage of the time you have here beacuse the time you get with some of these people is limited to your two week experience. Even with all of the people I have met and gotten to know, I have still found this to be a reflective time to learn about myself. You get one chance to be here and decide what type of impact you are going to leave on this amazing island. But the better question may be, what type of impact will the experience leave on you?
Lesson 3: Have an open heart and open mind
This was my motto for the whole rotation, I knew that if I had thins kind of attitude I couldn't go wrong. A large part of this rotation is philanthropy and giving back to the community by donations, patient education or even something as simple as painting a mural on a wall you can make a huge difference. An eye opening occurrence happened on my first visit to one of the clinics when Kent--the districts pharmacist-- wasn't able to fill a patients prescription for aspirin, a medication we have readily available in the states. Along the same lines I was floored to find out patients are often given only 10 insulin syringes for a whole month, and they use them until the needles are dull. Hard lessons like this make me appreciate what we have offered to us and pushes me to want to help the clinics in any way possible. Sometimes with what little the may seem to have in our eyes the people of the island are the happiest people I have met! Not only are they happy to be here they are even more excited to meet us.
These lessons are just a few of the number of things I have learned but are the ones that stand out most in my mind! I have enjoyed my time here so much and I am hoping to get the chance to return someday! One last thing to make note of their is a schedule they run on here it's called "Caribbean Time", also known as everything will get done eventually so you have to be flexible.
Best wishes in your future endeavors,
-Dani Harris
PharmD Candidate 2014
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