Originally published January 23, 2015
By Laura L. Acosta
UTEP News Service
After ringing in the New Year stateside, 10 future medical professionals from The University of Texas at El Paso and The University of Texas-Pan American departed for a weeklong excursion to the Dominican Republic. While there, they gained valuable insight into the clinical practices and vibrant culture of Santiago, the country’s second largest city.
From Jan. 2-10, premed students in the A-PRIME TIME program traveled to the Latin American nation to participate in the program’s first international educational experience.
During their stay, students observed medical consultations at a public medical clinic, a health facility for the blind and a rehabilitation hospital. They also practiced their Spanish with their host families and explored the country’s culture, which included a tour of La Aurora Cigar Factory, the oldest cigar factory in the Dominican Republic.
“This trip was a life-changing experience,” said Lizette Gutierrez, a junior biology major at UTEP. “It gave me a deeper sense of what medicine is really about. It’s far beyond writing prescriptions; it’s far beyond just diagnosing (patients). It’s about being sympathetic. It’s about talking to the patients, and it’s about compassion and respect.”
Known as the Accelerated Professional, Relevant, Integrated Medical Education (A-PRIME) partnership of The University of Texas System Transformation in Medical Education (TIME) initiative, A-PRIME TIME creates pathways for students at UTEP, UT Pan American and The University of Texas at Brownsville to obtain their undergraduate degrees and M.D.s in six years rather than eight.
Students enroll at UTEP, UT Pan American or UT Brownsville for the first three years and then matriculate to UT Medical Branch – Galveston or UT Health Science Center – Houston for three years. After successfully completing their fourth year of the program, students receive a bachelor’s degree from their home academic institution.
“We’re trying to provide as many of these kinds of opportunities as we can for students,” explained Donna Ekal, Ph.D., associate provost for undergraduate studies at UTEP. “The world is different than when the premedical and medical education system was established in the United States 100 years ago, and so we need to update the way we educate our premedical and medical students also.”
After a 14-hour plane ride, students settled in with their host families. To help scholars assimilate to Dominican culture, students visited popular landmarks, including the Héroes de la Restauración monument and the Centro León museum. They also spent a day at Sosúa beach, learned how to dance salsa and dined on patacónes, or fried green plantains.
“I’m glad that I decided to go because it was such a beautiful experience,” said Tiffany Robles, a junior in UTEP’s College of Science, whose visit to the Dominican Republic was the first time she had studied abroad. “Seeing a lot of traditional things, staying with the host families and actually immersing yourself in a new culture, it was just an experience that I would (recommend to) anybody to be a part of before they graduate college.”
The trip also was an opportunity for the future doctors to compare and contrast health care and medical practice between the Dominican Republic and the United States.
While visiting Clínica Buenos Aires, a public medical clinic, students measured the circumference of the head and abdomen of infants and toddlers. They also shadowed physicians during their assessments.
During one consultation, a doctor showed students how to measure a pregnant woman’s uterus to get a sense of how her baby was growing.
“The doctor took the time to talk to us about everything she was doing, step-by-step,” said Gutierrez, who hopes to become a pediatrician.
As part of A-PRIME TIME, Gutierrez has shadowed doctors in local hospitals and clinics. She said doctors usually treat patients from start to finish before students can ask questions. However, the doctors she encountered in the Clínica Buenos Aires interacted with students while examining patients.
“They stopped to talk to us and answer any questions we had,” Gutierrez said. “It was just mind-blowing for me. That is something I will take into consideration in the future when I have people shadowing me.”
A highlight of the trip for many of the scholars was a visit to “Laboratorio de Marcha,” a state-of-the-art physical rehabilitation laboratory housed in the Patronato Cibao de Rehabilitación Inc., a rehabilitation center in Santiago.
“It’s this room with cameras, and they put these little reflectors on your body to track your movements, your gait and the way you walk,” Gutierrez explained. “The patient that we saw was this little boy who had difficulty walking. He was being monitored with these cameras that would record the way he moved. It was a great privilege to see a laboratory like that.”
A trip to the Dominican Republic would not be complete without a last-minute visit to “27 Charcos” or the 27 Waterfalls of Rio Damjagua.
Before heading to the airport, students stopped at the popular tourist destination where they spent two hours climbing ropes and jumping through waterfalls.
The adventure helped Gutierrez unwind before the start of the spring 2015 semester. This year, Gutierrez and her A-PRIME TIME classmates will begin to study for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).
“I feel so much more relaxed and I’m ready to tackle the semester,” Gutierrez said. “With this trip I realized that there’s so much more that I don’t know. I’m excited to learn more about (different) cultures and about people because although we’re all humans – we all have the same mitochondria – at the same time, we’re so different. Our culture, our people, our love for each other is different. And so I really have a better appreciation for the way the world works.”