The most important part of my service in the Dominican Republic consisted of three days that were spent running Medical Brigades. These brigades were meant for people in the community that did not have access to hospitals or health care. Prior to traveling to set up the brigade, the group of 24 students and I were trained to be able to smoothly run a clinic. We were trained to take vitals and conduct patient interviews. Being a certified EMT, I was able to help teach vitals to my fellow peers. After only two hours of training and a night’s rest, we woke up at 5 am and traveled two hours up a mountain to a small village called Las Filipinas and set up the clinic inside an elementary school. Along with our supervisors, two certified doctors from the city of Santo Domingo volunteered their time. One of the directors had access to common medicines that could treat anything from a common cold to diarrhea. Two to three large bins of these medicines is what we called the pharmacy. After the doctor had seen the patient, we were given the prescription and filled it for them. Something that had shocked me was that many times the doctor had just prescribed a common painkiller, like Advil. This made me realize that the people living in this village don’t even have access to something like Advil for when they have a headache while I have multiple bottles just sitting in my cabinet. This put my own life into perspective. I have the choice and ability to take medicine whenever I want and people living here have to wait for volunteer clinics, like our own, for any chance at having medicine.

Prior to the brigade, the head of the community is told to make a list of 50 people that should have the highest priority at seeing the doctor. This usually means these people are very ill and most of the time, are either young children or elders. While this system seemed adequate, I soon learned that there was a flaw. One of my roles on this day was to check and register the patients. This consisted of checking off their name on a list and giving them a number. Then I would ask them some simple questions like their birthdate, age, and chief complaint. This really challenged my Spanish speaking skills. Something I learned was that Dominican Spanish tends to be “slang,” making it more difficult to understand. Yet, I somehow was able to check many people in successfully. Going back to the issue with limited spots, a recurring issue was that people who registered one person ended up bringing their whole family. At that time, we couldn’t reject individual family members, however, this made the 50 spots fill up much quicker resulting in a cut off around the 33rd person who signed up. Therefore, we had to reject care to the rest of the people because of our limited resources and time. In the moment, I was heartbroken to see people who had needed care were not able to get care. Specifically, when I had to explain to a dad that his daughter was not able to see the doctor. This was very hard for me as it put tears in my eyes when I saw them walk away. I didn’t understand the true value of medical care until this moment. I was angry that we couldn’t make time for this girl. I was told that this happened all the time and while we try to help everyone, many people go home without being seen by the doctor. That day, we were able to help 50 people and hopefully, groups in the future are able to see those people who weren’t seen the day I was there. I learned to value my own health and the opportunities I have to see a doctor whenever is necessary. I was able to learn a lot that day in the Filipinas, and that one moment when I had to explain to a family that the doctor was not able to see them, changed my outlook on my own life.