Dominican Republic at Last

When the time finally came, it was an adventure that I will never forget, and it ended all to soon. The best way I think to tell about it would be to use a few of my journal entries to describe a few of my experiences. so here are a few.

5-9-14

We have finally made it to the compound we are staying at in San Juan.  It is great and the weather is nice.  Although this isn’t my first time to a third world country, it is always shocking to see the poverty that people live in.  Tonight we are preparing the pharmacy and other supplies and heading out to Las Auyamas tomorrow for our first day out.

5-10-14

First day out was great!  We went to a small school and used it as our clinic.  I worked in triage and helped to take blood pressures and find out what the patients general ailments were.  We saw about 250 patients with the two doctors that are working with us.  Nearly all of the people here are infected by parasites.  Tomorrow we are headed to Banica.

5-11-14

Banica was awesome.  It was very different from Las Auyamas.  While there, I shadowed with Dr. Leyte.  She did not speak much English and since my Spanish is very minimal, the translator was helpful.  By the end of the day, I was beginning to pick up a lot of the words for different symptoms the people were suffering from.  The place that we worked in today was a smaller building made out of cinder blocks and had a tin roof.  Needless to say, it is very hot in the Caribbean in a building like that.  Tomorrow we are headed to Capulin. 

Loved working with the people of the Dominican Republic!

The Plan

Planning my EDGE project was probably the most difficult part.  I needed to figure things out such as how I would fund this and who my contacts would be.  I began by finding a trip that would suit my needs.  I am a member of Rural Health Scholars at SUU, and every semester they take part in service immersion trips. This was a blessing because they already work with Solid Rock International which is a program in that works with the Dominican Republic to help bring healthcare to their country. I signed up for the trip going in May 2014 and began to make plans.  The biggest obstacle as it is for many trips like this was the cost associated with it.  The price tag being $1600.  Being a college student with a family, I don't have much cash flow.  So, several months before I left, I began to look for people to help me to fund the trip.  Because this was a service trip, any donations counted as tax credits.  After months of talking to people, I was able to raise all of the money needed to pay for this trip. Now that the biggest obstacle was done, it was only the small stuff like worrying what to pack and who would drive to the airport.

EDGE

Why am I doing this?
Well, there are several reasons for me doing this,  the first and main, is that I one day plan to be a physician.  The driving force behind this has been with the goal to be able to then go abroad and provide care to those who do not have access to it.  When I began attending SUU, I learned of the EDGE (Education Designed To Give Experience) program. This program gives students the opportunity to design their own project and present it.  I saw the opportunity for me to do something I never thought I would be able to do in college and took it.

About Me

My Name is Casten and I am a Pre-Med Student who just finished applying to medical school.  While on this journey, I have experienced a lot of cool stuff by doing things such as shadowing doctors and volunteering. I am definitely busy with school, work, and a family, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Becoming a doctor has been a goal of mine for some time and I have always had the plan to go to 3rd world countries and serve.  One of the most recent and exciting experiences that I had was the opportunity to go to the Dominican Republic and work with doctors there to provide health care to people that don't have access to it.  This blog was created to tell about my experience.