An Experience of a Lifetime

Over the years, I have travelled to many different countries but none of them compare to the island of Dominica, West Indies.  I have always wanted to complete a medical mission trip when I was younger, even if it was to make a difference in just one person's life.  Little did I know that I would be making a difference in many people's lives, both young and old on this rotation. 

While there, we visited multiple clinics, one being located in the area of La Plaine.  Kent, the pharmacist of that area (and a few other districts) explained of the lack of supplies available to them and how he must order all needed supplies for his clinics, including first aid items, only once every two months.   From this statement, I realized how much our society takes advantage of things available to them and they do not appreciate the access they have as much as people in other countries do.  Though Dominica’s health care is a free health care system, there are restrictions as to how many products are allowed to be purchased.  I, along with others on our team, accumulated various types of donations in which to leave while in Dominica for those who are in need.  Though I felt as though some of these gifts would not be as appreciated as much as others, I was pleasantly surprised that items such as OTC eye drops and saline rinses were very much in need.  Kent had assured me the items donated were extremely valuable and it has made me want to reach out and help as much as possible in the future.

Finally, the primary schools are the places I feel were the absolute most rewarding part of this rotation.  The children at all three schools gave us kisses, held our hands, and even said "I love you miss" while we spent the day with them.  After leaving one school in particular, Petite Savanne, I had the revelation, "this is the reason why I came to Dominica".  From here on out, I feel as though we all have left a forever impression on the people of Dominica.

I want to conclude saying thank you to everyone who helped make our trip so amazing and helped me grow not only as a person but also to become a better pharmacist.  It is my hope to be a part of this rotation in the future for other students at ACPHS and Drake and re-unite with the friends I have made on the island of Dominica.

Future Career Ideas

Today Dr. A discussed many ideas/options as to what we could do in our near future as registered pharmacists. Though there are many career paths we can go down, it is very nerve-racking and even scary to decide what would be the best choice for me as an individual.  I feel as though the correct path for me is to apply for a residency, with the hopes of getting a residency for next year and in the future be a clinical pharmacist.  Dr. A opened my eyes up to a ton of different ways to figure out the many different paths even a clinical pharmacist could choose, and also the resources to help in applying for a residency.  I mostly enjoyed our talk regarding our future careers because it helped me realize that I do not have to have a definitive idea as to what I want/need to do after graduating in May, I need to just focus on what would be the best choices for me to start thinking about my future(yet so near) career.
I also enjoyed learning about the people in Dominica and how healthy some of them are, living to be over 100 years old.  It goes to show you that though all of the new age amenities that we have now are convenient, sometimes you need to think about your health and take the hard way such as walk more or go up flights of stairs instead of using elevators.  This definitely re-inforces the fact that I need to continue my yoga practices and my many other ways of exercising.

Acknowledgement

Hello all,
I would like to acknowledge my mom's work, and also my cousin/sister's work (Prime Care Urgent Care) in Albany.  We have received new donations of toothbrushes and dental health products as long as syringes and needles for the health clinics :).  Thank you to everyone who donated and we are very excited to get to Dominica!

Professionalism

Our discussion of Professionalism gave me insight from a professor's perspective.  There were a lot of minor details such as social media and how it is now an increasing issue in all professional environments including pharmacy.  It is very scary to me to know that even my past events that I had posted online, when I did not even think of joining the pharmacy community, could go against me and cause me to not get a residency offer in my near future.   The idea of "would you let your grandmother read this" helps me think a lot more before I decide to post anything online whether it be words, or pictures.  I also feel as though this talk was especially thought provoking and it helped me feel more engaged in the discussion which is very good.

United States vs Dominica

Yesterday's lesson was very informative in the fact that I never really stopped to realize how good we have it in the US, especially in regards to clean/purified water.  Water is an essential to any living object's being and the fact that a lot of people monopolize water in order to make profit is really sad.  I am not really sure how the few people can take extensive amounts of water, charge everyone else for this natural product, and not even care or think about the problems that will eventually occur.  Whether it is the lack of knowledge that these CEO's have, or just pure ignorance, something needs to be done in order to help our future and also people in countries that are dying because of their lack of good water.  The country of Dominica does not have as much of a "clean" water shortage, but they are lacking many things such as nutrients and health care that they deserve.  It is extremely sad to know that there are so many health care settings available in the US that most people take for granted, when we could send our resources and supplies over to places such as Dominica where people would appreciate more if they had such things available to them. Hopefully we will help a change begin in countries, particularly Dominica, to give those less fortunate the care they deserve which then can branch to other countries in need also.

What happens if I am sick

When I am sick, I usually just lay down and feel worthless.  I also feel bad when I do not feel well because I then have to ask people to make me food or even get me a drink. It is very difficult for me to ask people for help because I do not like the feeling of being helpless at all, I usually am the one helping.