Search

UVA in the Dominican Republic – A Public Health Sciences Study Abroad Program

By Laurie Archbald-Pannone, MD, MPH, AGSF, FACP

Associate Professor, Geriatric Medicine

University of Virginia

I served as a Faculty Instructor in UVA Study Abroad program in the Dominican Republic. UVA in the Dominican Republic (UVA in the DR) is a Public Health Sciences Study Abroad Program in May 2019. Faculty from PHS have taken undergraduates and graduate students to study in the Dominican Republic for the past 5 years. This is a 2-week, 3-credit course focused on health promotion, chronic disease perceptions, and international research. UVA collaborated with the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) School of Medicine, Santo Domingo, DR and other local health clinics and organizations.

The first week of the course is based in Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital city. Santo Domingo is rich in history – from the Taíno natives to Columbus’s arrival in 1492 and colonization as the “gateway to the Americans.” The city of Santo Domingo houses many “firsts”- the first university, cathedral, hospital, tavern, and declaration of human rights in the Americas.

I served as faculty instructor for the first week of this course. We hosted 5 UVA students; 2 undergraduates and 3 Masters of Public Health students. During this time, we worked closely with local partners to learn important Dominican history and culture. We spent most days on the UNIBE campus, hosted by Dean Marcos Nunez, UNIBE School of Medicine. During this time, we held formal group discussions with UVA and UNIBE students on research methods and research ethics.

We learned about local health promotion efforts using social media by the UNIBE medical students to increase community health education. I also met with the members of the UNIBE faculty to understand their curriculum and educational philosophy, as well as share our experience at UVA with the NexGen curriculum. I met with the two UNIBE geriatric medicine residents, to understand the current role of geriatricians in the DR health system. Currently, geriatrics is not well utilized in the country and serves mostly an end-of-life role. Therefore, I held a 2-hour workshop with the UNIBE premedical and medical students, as well as hospital physicians and geriatricians in training, to discuss the importance of understanding the care of the elderly and how every physician is critical to optimal geriatrics care. We had lively discussions and learned much from each other’s experiences.

Although the days were long and lectures many, I truly value the opportunity to participate in such an academic ideal as a study abroad program. I hope that I was able to share as much knowledge as I gained from this experience.

 

Filed Under: In the Know, News and Notes, Notable Achievements

Tags: , , , , , , , ,