Unfortunately our trip has come to an end. I believe that I can honestly speak on behalf of my classmates that we are sad to see this day come. We have learned so much more about ourselves and the type of clinicians we aspire to be in just a few months. We have been challenged in ways that cannot be replicated in the States by working with various patient populations in non-traditional clinical sites. Throughout this trip we have consistently questioned and pondered amongst ourselves, if what we've done in the last two weeks has been enough? To assist with this and to help ease our concerns we thought of ways to ensure that the work we have initiated at each site can continue for the years to come. To do this we created treatment and action plans for patients that we have been working with over the last two weeks. Also, we provided suggestions to each site to make it easier to manage the caseload while providing optimal patient care.
At the start of this trip Jason, one of our faculty advisors and leaders said that during this trip we would all experience a "Peter Pan" moment. This moment would signify when something within us and our personal journeys would click and our purpose for participating in this trip would make sense. I must admit that I questioned this as I did not have my "Peter Pan" moment until our final bus ride from the hotel to the Masasya Airport. During this bus ride by our exceptional driver Carlos, I thought of every patient and family member encounter that I had over the last two weeks. I thought of the gratitude and happiness they displayed and expressed. And the countless times they thanked myself and my team for the work we had done. They wished us well in our future endeavors and blessed the remainder of our academic careers. Reflecting on these memories made me emotional as I had never encountered such kind individuals who were so selfless.
My patients and their family members have many struggles and difficulties on a daily basis such as financial difficulty that limits the amount of times they could receive therapy services due to the cost of getting to the the amputee clinic. Also, many of my patients struggled with reading and comprehension. Despite their obstacles I could not remember any instance of complaining or non-compliance among my patients. They were more than willing to learn and know what they could do in the clinic and at home to assist their rehabilitation.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity to travel out of the country and utilize what I have learned over the past 3 years to help others. I am truly humbled my this experience and I will treasure the memories of my patients and every interaction for the rest of my life!