OTD News - Volume VIII, Issue 1

3 OTD Overseas: Medical Outreach By: Nikita Mathew, OTD, OTR/L OTD Overseas: Medical Outreach Trip to Ecuador As part of my doctoral residency, I had the opportunity to attend an international medical outreach trip to Ecuador. The trip consisted of 15 Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) students from NSU, three physicians, Sheila M. Longpré, PhD, OTR/L, and myself. We travelled to the cities of Milpé, Tandayapa, and Quito to provide medical services in these underserved areas. We arrived to Ecuador on Saturday and departed back to Florida the following Saturday. For the first few days, we were able to explore the city and meet the residents of Ecuador in order to understand their cultural background and lifestyle. During the week, we set-up free clinics that were organized by our host prior to our visit. Around 8 am, the residents of Ecuador started to line-up in order to receive free health care services. The clinics closed around 6 pm or until every client was attended to. Though at times this experience was challenging, it helped me grow as an occupational therapy student. One of my responsibilities included educating other members on the trip about occupational therapy and the similarities and unique differences from physical thera- py. This was essential because I noticed the more knowledge the D.O. students had about occupational therapy, the more referrals I would receive. At the beginning of the week, Dr. Longpré and I had to advocate the need of occupational therapy for clients; however, with more education about our profession, occupational therapy services were in high demand by the end of the week. Without the typical resources such as the internet or textbooks at my convenience, I was pushed to think on my feet and put on my OT thinking cap in order to provide services within our scope of practice. This opportunity helped me realize the im- portance of promoting our profession and creating interprofessional bonds in order to pro- vide the highest quality of care to our clients. I was humbled to partake in this experience and will use this knowledge in order to become an occupational therapist that will strive to make a positive impact in the world. Page 22 OTD News, Volume VIII, Issue 1 Ecuador Medical Outreach Trip Students and Preceptors Quito, Ecuador