Volunteering Abroad in the Dominican Republic

This past summer, I volunteered on another medical outreach trip with Volunteers Around the World. This summer, I went to the Dominican Republic with about 16 other undergraduate students. I expected this experience to be very similar to my last one, but because the program has been running for a longer period of time in the Dominican Republic, there were a lot of differences that made this experience unique. For example, we had more doctors to shadow in the Dominican Republic, which was an amazing experience, because there were fewer students shadowing each doctor, and we each got more time with the patients while we were shadowing. While we saw more patients overall at each of our clinics in the Dominican Republic, the pace was less frantic, so we were able to take a bit more time to complete intake forms and help the doctors to examine the patients. There was also more time to ask questions about the different symptoms that patients reported.

Similar to the process in Panama, I was trusted with sensitive medical information and helped to counsel patients on the next steps of their treatment. I was also tasked with following testing procedures directed by doctors. However, this time since it was my second trip, I was able to help new volunteers to take patient vitals and fill out the intake forms.

This experience volunteering abroad, once again, was an amazing opportunity for me to use my kindness and compassion as tools to make patients feel comfortable being tested and treated for their illnesses; however, it also allowed me to experience another management style and remain flexible while I worked in very different conditions compared to my last experience volunteering abroad with the same organization.