Panama Clinicals

Well, so far Panama has been very interesting. We have already done two clinical days and we have been divided into 4 clinics. I was able to actually do a PAP Smear on my first day of clinicals and it was an amazing experience especially considering that nurses do not do PAP Smears unless you are a nurse practioner. Another thing I found interesting is the fact that in Panama vaccines are free. They even have nurses go to schools or to their houses (every April) to give them their vaccinations. The HPV vaccine here in Panama is given in 3 doses and has to be given and started when they are 10 years old. The vaccine they use is specific for 10 year old girls and it only protects against 2 types of HPV (type 16 and 18). Today I got to give immunizations to children and on Thursday my group will be going with some of the clinic's nurses to a school to educate the children on HPV and give them their HPV vaccine. Anyway, so far it has definitely been a great experience and even though at times we feel exhausted, it is all worth it. Tommorow we are going to the beach and we are all looking forward to see more beautiful lanscapes here at Panama.