Blog #3

Overall Panama has been a great experience. I have gained so much from being in Panama. We visited the clinics here in Panama, which were great for practicing skills. I learned so much from all the nurses at the clinic. I realized that there can still be therapeutic communication when you can’t verbally communicate. I also learned that even though the clinics are different from back home they are still very important to the community and overall benefit the community as much as they can with the limited supplies they do have. We were also very welcomed at the hospital in Chitre, which was also a great learning experience for me. I was able to rotate through the ICU, ER, And OR. It was a great opportunity to get to see how hospitals operated in Panama. The hospital was set up very much like America; however, it had its differences and lacked many of the new technologies and supplies. The lack of technologies and supplies made it very interesting to observe how they did many skills that we do at home with more advanced technologies. I learned how to be resourceful and use what supplies I have to get by and it’s a great thing I learned because you never know when supplies may be limited.

Furthermore we visited three schools while in Panama. This was a wonderful experience I loved seeing the smiles on all the children’s faces and watching them have fun while they learned. However, the school system in Panama wasn’t very universal. I noticed that each school was at different levels. This was probably largely due the lack of supplies, support of some of the community’s, and location of the schools. I was able to teach children about sun protection, hydration, germs, hand washing, nutrition, and values.  This was incredibly rewarding especially when it was clear they understood what we were trying to teach them. I wish I could help more because at some schools it is very clear that they needed more supplies and to further enhance their learning.

More excitingly, on my trip to Panama I was able to appreciate another culture than my own. I had never done anything like this before and I was able to better understand the importance of culture and community in health care. These experiences really opened my eyes to how important it is to include a patient’s culture into their treatment to promote their well-being. It also helped me understand the importance of providing care to the entire community and not just one patient at a time. I really enjoyed being in Panama and being a part of the community here.