Our last day in the Dominican Republic began with a now familiar routine. Everyone met in the dining hall for breakfast at 7 am and then prepared for the day. The medical team checked the contents of their bins, adding more vitamins or relabeling ziploc bags. The surgical team went over their schedule for the day and wrote down what supplies they would need. Erika Fernandez takes a photo of a mother and her sons who came for a consult. I joined the nursing students on the yellow school bus for the ride to Soco, the site of our morning clinic. Unlike the bateyes we had visited Monday through...

Day six is my favorite day, so far, in this journey. I think I needed a few days to "warm up" and by day six, I finally found my groove. I felt confident in myself and in our team. Further, interacting with the people we were serving came more naturally. I spent most of the day taking blood pressures so that I could greet patients as they entered the clinic. My Spanish had improved to the point where I could say "hello", "how are you?", "thank you" and "wait there for the doctor". I know these are phrases most people already know, but I was pretty proud of my accomplishment. There were even a...

Several months ago, we had our first team meeting to discuss this trip. I remember learning about the bateys and I developed my own preconceptions of what they'd be like. I even found myself feeling a little bit nervous about what I might see during my travels. First and foremost, I was nervous about the possible lack of restrooms. I imagined myself out in the fields with a roll of toilet paper and an army of animals around me. I was also nervous about meeting the people we would serve. Language and cultural barriers can be difficult to work through. My first visit to a batey was actually a...

The surgical team consists of doctors, nurses and techs. Here, they gather together to discuss patient care. Collaboration at its finest! Today our team was up, dressed and ready for breakfast at 7 am. After gulping down a surprisingly delicious breakfast porridge, the surgical team (myself included) headed for Good Samaritan Hospital to greet our first patient. The day's lineup would include four patients, two males and two females. Procedures would include a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, two inguinal hernia repairs, and a lipoma excision. A painting in the OR at Good Samaritan Hospital...

This is a holiday weekend in the Dominican Republic. Three Kings' Day is when children in Latin America traditionally receive gifts. Casa Pastoral is affiliated with a Baptist church around the corner. The staff members who cook the meals and organize the logistics for the mission teams come from the church membership. Sunday we met yet another group on a medical mission, this one from Saco, Maine. Tomorrow we expect a small group of nurses from Rhode Island to fill any remaining bunk beds in the dorm. With the undergraduate students from Connecticut also staying here, it feels like all of...

The MGH Institute/Boston Medical Center team gathered at Logan airport in Boston on Friday night for a JetBlue flight to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In an early example of successful collaboration, several students removed, repacked, and reweighed a suitcase so it came in just four-tenths of a pound under the 50-pound limit. When we reached the gate, we realized that we would share the flight with another team of volunteers from Massachusetts General Hospital. In this case, they were a group of two nurse practitioners, registered nurses, administrators, and friends from Lunder 10, an...

Since our kickoff meeting in September, the members of the Dominican Republic mission trip have been preparing for today's departure. Mertie Potter , a faculty member in the School of Nursing, has coordinated both the academic and logistical sides of the project. Her husband, Fred, has tuned up his camera to document the trip. The seven nurse practitioner students from the MGH Institute have laid the foundations for their scholarly projects. Donald Hess and the two surgical residents at Boston Medical Center have secured supplies for the operating room. And I have...well, so far I've...

The MGH Institute is partnering with Christian Medical Mission (CMM), Good Samaritan Hospital , and a surgical team from Boston Medical Center on a medical mission trip to La Romana, Dominican Republic, from Jan. 2-10, 2015. The 13-member team will provide nursing, medical, and surgical care to Dominicans in the La Roman area and to Haitians working in the bateyes (sugar cane fields). This is the 3rd team of nurse practitioner students I will have the privilege of taking to the Caribbean nation. The focus of service on this trip is two-fold: The NP students will be involved with health...