International Medical Service Trip

International Medical Service Trip: Cusco, Peru

When I was younger, I always wanted to be a Doctor Without a Border, providing medical services to the less fortunate in underserved countries. So when I found out about the Gainesville Student Chapter of Doctors Without Borders, I was eager to join the organization. I met students from different diverse backgrounds from different parts of Central and South America, Asia, and the Caribbean to name a few, all of which shared the same interest in international health. During the Fall semester, we participated in many volunteer events around the Gainesville community and partnered with Days for Girls serval times where we made reusable pads for women and during spring break we set flights for our international medical service trip in Cusco, Peru March of 2019.

The journey to Peru was a crazy and long one. We had two connecting flights, from Miami to Bogota, Colombia to Lima, Peru, and then to Cusco, Peru. My roommate and I missed our connecting flight from Colombia to Lima and were left to defend ourselves and ask for help with the little Spanish we knew. After roaming the Colombia airport for hours, we were finally able to find another flight to Lima and then Cusco.

We spent a week in Cusco serving as student volunteers in rural clinics and were stationed at different rotations each day. There were vitals, dental, pharmacy, and physician and nursing shadowing rotations.

This medical service trip showed us present global health issues in rural communities in Cusco. Many of the patients who came to the clinic suffered from oral infections, high blood pressure, and vitamin deficiency.

They also lacked access to many resources such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and running water. With our assistance, more patients were able to be seen by the nurse and doctor.

We also got to experience Peru’s rich culture during this service-learning trip. We were assigned a host mom, with whom I still stay in contact. She cooked breakfast and dinner for us each day, we ate lunch at local Peruvian restaurants after our volunteering shifts, saw many dance performances and cultural art.

We got to witness the beauty of Machu Picchu, and the Maras Salt mines. We were exposed to so much Spanish during the trip and were even exposed to Quechua, the language spoken by Indigenous Peruvians. This trip was honestly unforgettable. I learned so much about rural health care while making new friends and memories to last a lifetime.