My experience on this Presidents Without Borders trip completely exceeded my expectations. Every day I was immensely impressed in everyone's (doctors, patients, and volunteers) patience, kindness, and understanding. This was my first time visiting a Spanish-speaking country and I was very excited to finally utilize my Spanish skills with native speakers. I quickly found out I wasn't as good as I thought I was, but everyone was willing to help me understand, even help me increase my vocabulary! By the end of the week I was much more confident speaking in Spanish.
Being a pre-health student interested in practicing medicine in underserved areas/populations, I was able to gain valuable insight into the common struggles and diseases of those types of patients as I may encounter in the future as I worked alongside the doctors in the clinics. Each day brought new challenges, and even greater rewards as the patients thanked us all from the bottom of their hearts for the simple health care we were able to provide for them. This trip further inspired me to pursue a career in medicine and I made memories with my fellow volunteers I will never ever forget!
Lindsey Dove
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