- Delivering health and hope
Valpo nursing student Kelsi Hains and pre-med student Jake Yablonowski treat a young patient in Nicaragua. Students spend spring break treating patients in Central America
A team of 29 nursing, pre-medical and pre-dental students spent their spring break 2011 working in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, delivering health care to residents who otherwise might go without it.
The group worked in and around San Jose, Costa Rica, and in remote villages on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua from Feb. 26 through March 10, diagnosing and treating illnesses and other health concerns of local residents.
“This experience really showed me how great and open the people are here in Central America,” said Kelsi Hains, an accelerated nursing student from Granger, Ind. “They know that we are students, but they let us help them just as if we were already nurses and doctors.” The students worked in collaboration with local physicians and healthcare workers from both countries.
Valpo students diagnosed and treated more than 250 patients during the six days of clinics held in multiple locations in both countries. Students also worked with local dentists to offer dental services, and brought a supply of various medicines and prescriptions to offer to the residents.
“For me, the trip was a phenomenal experience, an opportunity to serve people directly that I could never have had in America at this stage of my education,” said Jake Yablonowski, a sophomore from Cedar Lake, Ind., following a pre-medical course of study. “I was able to get hands-on experience working with patients at a very early point in my academic career, which can only help me as I make decisions about my future.”
The trip was led by Amy Cory, assistant professor in Valpo’s College of Nursing, who said the two-week short term study abroad provided students with not only a cross-cultural experience, but also a multi-faceted educational component.
“For nursing students, this allows them to take what they have learned in the classroom and practice it in a clinical setting,” said Cory. “For pre-med students who have not had any clinical experience, it allows them to have hands-on experience with patients as part of their undergraduate experience.”
Students in Valpo’s College of Nursing have been doing significant work to improve health care in Central America in recent years, focused largely around a multi-year project to address health care needs in the rural Nicaraguan villages on Ometepe Island.
More information about Valpo’s College of Nursing and the various courses of study can be found at valpo.edu/nursing.