Paraguay Mission Trip
What?
For about one week, I joined a mission team known as Legacy of Healing that travels to different third-world countries every year to provide free health needs to the impoverished people of the country. This year the team of physicians, nurses, medical students and volunteers headed to Asunción, Paraguay where we were able to help numerous people through free clinics as well as perform numerous of free surgeries.
So What?
I chose to engage in this experience because it directly related to my a few of my goals of becoming a physician as well as using my Spanish speaking abilities in a bedside manner. I had developed my Spanish speaking skills the previous summer during a four-week stay in Guatemala and wanted to continue practicing my Spanish speaking ability in a different country this summer as well. Keeping these two goals in mind, the experience was everything that I had hoped it would be. I was able to translate from patient to physician and visa versa as well as help out with taking vitals, diagnosing and even observing surgeries.
Now What?
This experience was meaningful because it reaffirmed my lifelong goal of wanting to become a physician and also validated that the hard work I have been putting into learning the Spanish language has proven to be useful in a practical setting. Knowing and having practiced Spanish prior was certainly useful and this experience has inspired me to continue traveling abroad in order to help those that need it the most.
For about one week, I joined a mission team known as Legacy of Healing that travels to different third-world countries every year to provide free health needs to the impoverished people of the country. This year the team of physicians, nurses, medical students and volunteers headed to Asunción, Paraguay where we were able to help numerous people through free clinics as well as perform numerous of free surgeries.
So What?
I chose to engage in this experience because it directly related to my a few of my goals of becoming a physician as well as using my Spanish speaking abilities in a bedside manner. I had developed my Spanish speaking skills the previous summer during a four-week stay in Guatemala and wanted to continue practicing my Spanish speaking ability in a different country this summer as well. Keeping these two goals in mind, the experience was everything that I had hoped it would be. I was able to translate from patient to physician and visa versa as well as help out with taking vitals, diagnosing and even observing surgeries.
Now What?
This experience was meaningful because it reaffirmed my lifelong goal of wanting to become a physician and also validated that the hard work I have been putting into learning the Spanish language has proven to be useful in a practical setting. Knowing and having practiced Spanish prior was certainly useful and this experience has inspired me to continue traveling abroad in order to help those that need it the most.