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.

Clinical Experience So Far!

We are currently in Chitre which is known to be filled with low-economic status citizens. We went to police station today to do give some influenza immunizations to some police officers. There were plenty of injections to do which made me feel comfortable in giving shots. I enjoyed the experience and practicing Spanish. The nurses were great. They were very kind and informative! I learned so much from them because they were very specific. They gave my group souvenirs and bread that is popular in Chitre. They wanted us to experience the culture. Yesterday, I was able to do two pap smears which was exciting because nurses are not allowed to do them in the United States but nurses are allowed to do pap smears here in Panama. I was also able to give my first immunization shot to a baby yesterday. It was DPT. I learned that the Panamanian healthcare do not use wipe alcohol on the skin before giving the shot. They use water which they believe is better. There are a few more clinical days to go and I´m excited on the days ahead!

Welcome to Paradise!

The first week in Panama City is over and what an experience it has been! I have had the time of my life! After the exhausting two days of travel, we finally made it to the Cuidad del Saber! Our little villas are like home now =) The first day of activities was horrible for me.....I was sick the whole day! I think I was a little too daring with the water. But we still had a great time visiting the Universidad de Panama and the faculdad de enfermera (nursing school). Next we were off to the Universidad Latina de Panama which was the private school. The simulation lab at this school was GORGEOUS! We ended the day at the Panamanian Nurses Association. On the second day we visited some offices at the Cuidad del Saber and then we were off to the mall! The third day was our day to be tourists. We visited the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal, the Causeway, an old YMCA that now was used to sell the locals´ arts and crafts, and Old Panama. That night we went to a nice restaurant in the downtown area and enjoyed some traditional folk dances while we ate. It was one of my favorite days! Saturday we were up early to visit the Embera tribe. This was an experience of a lifetime. We got to ride is ¨ganoes¨ to a beautiful waterfall, have lunch made by the natives, got ¨henna¨tattoos by the kids, and watched them perform traditional dances. It was unforgettable. That night we went to a ¨discoteca¨ (club) with the UP nursing students and got to let loose a little! Sunday we were off to Chitre!

Chitre

We are all alive and well in Chitre. This week started the¨"work".. but honestly I have been loving it! We have all been split up into groups of 5 or 6 to visit 4 different clinics. The clinics here are much different than in America. I thought we would have to rotate to different places in order to see everything, but pretty much each place has a dentist, gynecologist, pediatric, mental health, and adult health unit.

There is definately a difference in the health care systems between Panama and the United States. I immediately noticed that the nurses hardly ever wear gloves when working with the patients. Also, there are no alcohol swabs anywhere. To clean the tops of medicine bottles and the area prior to injection, they use plain water. The medications themselves are kept all together in a small cooler, like one you would take to a picnic. They have nothing like a Pyxis machine here, so you really have to double check that you are giving the right medicine! The sharps container is a cardboard box, unlike the hard plastic ones in America. I was nervous all day about someone getting poked because the offices were full with so many people all the time.

We got to tour the two types of hospitals they have here as well, a health ministry one and a social security one. This was another big shock to me. Most of the hallways between units were open air so it definately didn´t have the¨"sterile" feel that most hospitals in America do.. I felt really bad for the women on the maternity ward who were pregnant without air conditioning! All the doors to the patient rooms were open so as we walked through we were able to peek in and see what they were like. About 4 to 6 patients shared one room without any curtains or dividers. Privacy definately was not as big of a deal here as it is in the states.

I thought it was a great experience and I definately felt more confident after all the opportunities I had to practice. Tomorrow we head to the beach because the government is changing presidents so the whole country has the day off. Then we are back at the clinic another day and to the school on Friday to do a health fair. I have really enjoyed this week and can´t believe how much I am learning! I am so glad to be here.

-Kaley

Week two!

This week has started off to afast start! We traveled to chitre which is about a four hour ride from where we were staying in panama city. The rancho kevin where we are staying for this week is better than what i expected although its a much smaller living space than the villas at the city of knowledge. Its three to a room with not much space to walk around when trying to get ready but all in all not so bad. I expected this village to be much more rural than what it is but there is a good amount of stores and a square.

We started our clinical work on Monday. Each villa was assigned to four different clinics. The clinic that I was assigned to has a bunch of specialties combined into one clinic. There is pediatrics, gyneocoloists, dentists, and immunizations. It is much different from the states where one would go to seperate offices to visit a dentisit or gynecologist. These patients come to the clinic normally with their children and visit all the different specialties in one day. All the examinations are free and a pack of birth control is only $2 dollars a month. Today I gave influenza shots and other immunizations to the children and also performed a pap smear. To my surprise the pap smear did not bother me and was rather interseting in a weird way. Maybe I would be suited to work in a gynocologist office.

Tomorrow the panamanian government is changing office therefore every panamanian has the day off. So tomorrow we are going to la playa or the beach! I´m excited to see if the beaches are pretty here, which I heard they are.

First Week = Wow

This trip started our rather rough, as many others have said. With missed flights, difficulty in booking new ones, and some other long delays, we were somewhat worried as to how the trip was going to turn out. However, since we've gotten here, everything has been an amazing! We've done mostly tourist-type activities so far. We started out our week by visiting both the University of Panama and the Latina University. What a difference between the two! University of Panama is much larger and has many more students. UP has a very small and humble (but adequate) lab. On the other hand, the Latina University has very few students, but an outrageously extensive lab. The lab had the most high-tech components, separated into twelve different rooms. What I would give to spend a day in that lab for simulations; it would be awesome!

Among the other things we did were trips to the Panama Canal, a Panamanian dinner with traditional Panamanian dancers, and a four-hour visit to the mall (which I didn't mind at all, by the way). We ended the week with a day in the rainforest with the Embera tribe. We were picked up by members of the village and taken by canoes on the beautiful Chagres River . We then hiked through the rainforest to a waterfall where we got to swim and cool off for a while. We then headed back to their village which consisted of hand-made huts, dirt paths, and many more Embera members (including perhaps some of the cutest little kids ever). They fed us lunch and talked a little bit about their way of life and about their village. They then sang and danced for us before we ended our trip there. It was such an experience.

We leave in a few hours for Chitre, a very rural community, to spend the week there doing clinical hours. We will be assisting in clinics with the members of the community alongside University of Panama nursing students. I am excited about finally getting to do some hands-on nursing stuff! I will admit, however, that I'm a little apprehensive about the conditions of the town. Hopefully everything will run smoothly and we will all take great experiences, important lessons, and humbling values from it!

Amazing Day

Today was an amazing day. I knew that it was going to be awesome just because of what people had said in the past, but experiencing it myself was unforgettable. Driving into the rainforest brought such a sense of anticipation, because I could sense that we were leaving the way of life that I know further and further behind. There were plenty of houses along the way, sure, but still, these people lived such different lives. And the Embera village was so isolated, pure and untouched.
Seeing the way that the indigenous live is very impressive. They know what technology is available, and still they chose to keep their ways. The food, fried fish and plantains, served in a banana leaf, was tasty, but my favorite part of the meal was the fresh pineapple. Learning about the culture, the way they built their houses and wove baskets made me appreciate how hard they work. The dancing and music were beautiful, and by far my favorite part of my time in the village.
Apart from the village the best part of the day for me was the waterfall. I think just because it was such a singular experience – I’ve never done anything like it before and probably won’t have the opportunity again for a long time. It was so beautiful to hike through the rainforest; I just wish I had seen a monkey! And the waterfall was so gorgeous and the water was refreshing. I don’t think I’ll ever forget today.
Even though next week will be busy and lots of hard work, I’m looking forward to it. I’m interested in how the healthcare system works here; the thing that I’m most nervous about is the language, but I’m sure it will work out. I can’t believe we’ve only been here a few days, it feels like longer. Soon the work begins…

Embera tribe and Nursing school party!

Hey everyone!
Another long and fun filled day in panama today! We woke up early this morning to take a long bus ride through the mountains to a Panamanian National park. Where we were greeted by some of the members on the Embera tribe. Dressed in colorful beaded attire they ushered us to long canoes they had carved themselves out of trees. We rode through the gorgeous rainforest that was lush and green. It was so amazing words could not explain it. We took atleast a 20 minute ride along the Changres river, which is one of the rivers that supports the Panama canal with water power. we then took a long hike through the wilderness where i saw a neon blue butterfly which was so pretty. It was among many other really amazing butterlfies i saw today!! Then, we got to a waterfall which was really cold but felt great after the long hike!! It was like a waterfall from a movie and so refreshing!! then we took the hike back to the canoes, and the canoes to the Embera village. We had lunch in the Embera's stunning huts they were raised of the ground and so well made and spacious. The roofs were made of dried palm frons and even with the rain coming down we didnt get a drop inside! The welcoming people served us a lunch on a banana leaf of Fish and plantains which was very satisfying and delicous. Then they danced for us and we got to look at the crafts they create and buy some great souveniers. Some girls even got henna tattoos from the villagers!! overall going to see the panamanian rainforest and the Embera tribe was one of the most amazing adventures i have ever been on!!
As if that wasnt enough for one day we also went out to a fashion show dance the University of Panama nursing school had invited us to earlier in the week. It was at a club in the city called Dubai that much like an american club was decked out with a Dj and flashing lights! we got to experience a university of panama nursing school tradition. Every year the incoming nursing students have a beauty pagent like competition. Four new nursing students competed in a fashion show complete with costumes, dance, and a slide show of photos to see who would be crowned the Queen. It was great to partake in their tradition. Panama has been so filled with great things so far i cant wait for things so come! yay! ~Yvette

Embera

Today was probably my favorite of the trip so far. We woke up early and met to drive over to the Embera Village and visit some of the indigineous people of Panama. When we arrived we were greeted by a few men wearing brightly colored beaded skirts. They took us down to some dug out canoes and we loaded up to ride down the Chagras River. It was so beautiful there. We first stopped and hiked across some rough terrain to a gorgeous waterfall where we were thankful to take a swim in the water because it was so hot. We enjoyed jumping off the rock cliffs and getting back massages from the water rushing down as we sat at the bottom. After we got toweled off we went back to the canoes and arrived at one of the four villages of the Embera people. They fed us some traditonal tribal food which consisted of fish (tilapia i think) and patacones (or flattened plantains that were salted and fried) in banana leaf bowls. It was so yummy. Next we moved over to another hut where the tribe had beautiful handmade gifts. Once everyone bought a few souvenirs we sat down for a performance. The men and women of the tribe played instruments and danced, even a few of us got up to join them! It was a great time and a beautiful place, I was sad to leave.

~Kaley <3

Fist week...So far...so ....AMAZING!!

First week
This first week has been amazing!!! After a rough wait in Miami airport, we have been able to enjoy the city of Panama and appreciate the colorful streets and buses (Diablo rojos) that distinguish this town. Every time we are ridding the bus, we are constantly looking out the window observing the busy roads, millions of people walking around, and observing how “happy” the city looks painted with so many colors.
As many have stated, we were able to go to the state university of Panama and to the private health university. In both universities, students have to be in the nursing curriculum for four years; since year one, they have two days of clinicals and eight classes Mondays through Friday from 7 am to 6 pm. I admire the student’s dedication for their studies; it is very impressive to see all the skills they learned with limited resources.
Today we went to the Panama Canal! It was beautiful, what a wonderful experience! We were able to learn about the history of the canal, how it was planed, and how it was accomplished. Panama is a country that is blessed by its geographic location. Panama does not get any hurricanes or earthquakes, but it does get nine months of rain. All this rain happens to be the great contributor to the functioning of the canal; boats are elevated by levels with the water collected during the rainy season, as they go through different locks they reach the ocean level and cross the country reaching their destination. During the morning, the boats go from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Ocean and during the afternoon they go the opposite way. It takes almost 15 minutes for a boat to be lifted by the water at the locks (this concept of lifting by water is complicated to explain, I did not fully understand until I saw one boat being lifted by the water. I guess it is something you have to come and see with your own eyes).
Tomorrow we are going to go to Embera, an indigenous community that comes from a sector of my beautiful country Colombia. I am looking forward to this wonderful experience and can’t wait to tell everybody about it.

Today we had our second full day in Panama. It has been a busy trip already! Taking in the whole experience has been very exciting and a little overwhelming. Yesterday we visited the University of Panama (UP) and the private Latina university. It was like two different worlds! The Latina University had a very extensive simulation lab compared to UP's but we learned that both schools receive the same quality of education. While the city of Panama is very lush and green, poverty is seen everywhere. Today we learned more about what the Ciudad del Saber "City of Knowledge" is all about and what they have accomplished in just 11 short years. It is a very impressive place with much to offer. We also learned about PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) and their goals of building safer medical facilities, to withstand natural disasters. Unsafe hospitals are a problem all over the world, we saw this in the US when Katrina hit Louisiana. After our class time this morning we were able to go to the Allbrook Mall, which was unbelievable in size. We were exhausted after walking around it for 4 hrs and I didnt even get to see it all. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day of touring the city and canal but I can't wait to see it all!! Rachel

Finally Here

Finally here…the trip to Panama was maybe not harrowing like an adventure novel, but certainly more frustrating than any of us anticipated. I really have some serious criticisms for the airline – I feel like the entire delay situation could have been handled better overall. But I’m trying my best to put it all behind me and just enjoy being here now.

Today was our first real day out and about. Trips to the University of Panama, Latina University, and the Nurses’ Association of Panama (Associacion Nacional de Enfermeras de Panama – sorry about any spelling mishaps there) were great, but left us tired. I was struck by the drastic differences between the public and private universities. Sometimes it seems amazing that schools with such different levels of resources can produce the same quality of nurse, with the public university even having a better track record of nurses trying to come to the states. The difference between public schools here and public schools in the state is amazing too; I attend a public school in Florida, but the nurses here will be able to perform many skills that I can’t at a fraction of the educational cost.

I really love the country so far. Something as simple as driving along the highway is a beautiful experience. I love the trees and shade of Panama – so many different shapes and sizes of leaf meld together to create a balance that is perfect. Maybe that seems very mushy or hippie, but it just struck me. The sounds are different too. This morning I was reading at the breakfast table and realized that I had stopped just to listen to all the birds. I was interested by what I saw of the city today, but I think that I’m more of a nature person, well, by nature. I can’t wait to get more involved in the clinics and other nursing activities, and I think it’s really cool how well regarded and respected nurses are here. Looking forward to what comes next…

our 1st full day

Today was a very long day, but interesting! We started out at 9:30 this morning at the Universidad De Panama (University of Panama) and had a tour of their College of Nursing and the rest of the University. There nursing school is $27 per semester or $500 for the 4 years. That doesn't even get us half of a text book at USF. We were able to talk to some students and officials on campus, also. We ate at their cafeteria for lunch, it was $1.10 for a Pepsi Light, white rice, vegetables, and fried fish. After that, we went to a private school, Universidad Latina de Panama. It was for many different medical professions. Their simulation lab was absolutely amazing with SO many mannequins in which you could do anything from the heimlich maneuver to delivering a baby. That school costs $14,000 for the 4 years. Once we left the school we went to the National Association of Nurses building. After a lonnng day of touring we finally got back on the bus, and headed to our houses. Dr. Cadena made us delicious spaghetti tonight. Now it's time to relax and get ready for another long day tomorrow!

beginning of PANAMA!!!

hello everyone!
So after a long trip and a bad experience with an airlines,that shall remain nameless, we are finally here is Panama. The country is beautiful and we woke up this morning at seven and took a walk through the city of knowledge. We walked to a local plaza and got coffee in a bakery that smelled amazing. The area is so green with plants and the buildings are very spanish influenced. Then we went to the University of Panama the largest public university in panama for a tour which was an amazing experience. The nursing school welcomed us so graciously and we saw their simulation lab which was stocked with some donations from us. In contrast we then visited the Latina University which is a small private college. Their nursing students also were very welcoming but their facility was amazing and modern stocked with the same manicans we have at University of South Florida Nursing school. We then visited the Association of Nurses for Panama were we visited a musuem that followed the history of nursing in panama. Overall the day was great, it was hot outside but everywhere we went people were very gracious and taught us alot about nursing and public health in Panama. I can't wait for tomorrow to learn and see more! ~Yvette

First Impressions

My first impressions of Panama were the mountains and all the vegetation. Coming from a state where brown grass is nothing new to a country that is nothing but green everywhere is really different. I think it is beautiful to look at. A lot of the local neighborhoods remind me of the more ghetto parts of major cities in the United States. The roofs look like they are about to fall apart and some of the windows are nothing more than square holes in the wall with no glass. Many of the homes sit on the side of the mountains and they are very colorful. Pink, green, yellow, and blue tend to be the more popular colors. Some are not painted at all; they are just concrete brick. I have noticed that the cars here are nicer than what I expected. Almost every car is an American dealer. I saw a lot of hondas and toyotas. This evening we went to the supermarket and I was completely taken by surprise. I expected all the foods to be Panamanian brands, but majority of the foods are the same as what we sell in America. I was happy to see this, because it felt a little bit more like home for me. The villas we are staying in are interesting. Our kitchen has no pots or pans and no stove, so trying cook dinner was an experience. Our beds are very hard and the pillows are a bit lumpy. The hot water tends to kick on and off every few minutes. We like we are kind of camping. I have come to realize that Americans are a lot more spoiled than we tend to rhink. I think this trip is going to be filled with many more suprises, but it will be really good for us to have the opportunity to experience them.

Autumn

Some Day!

After a day at the airport yesterday and staying at the Holiday Inn (bill footed by the airport) we finally got a flight to Panama today. Our flight was delayed for a couple of hours before we left for Panama and are so glad to finally be here. Since we have been here we have been tot he supermarket and to the villas. It is so nice to finally be settled with clean clothes and a shower.

Waiting for Our Flight!

We are all waiting in the airport right now because our flight got delayed. We were supposed to leave at 2:10 for Miami but it has been delayed to 4:06. We probably won't make our 4:55 flight from Miami to Panama!!! So we will most likely take a Panamanian airline. This will be interesting... Anyways, can't wait to arrive in Panama. This will be an awesome learning experience!!! We will have a ton of fun :)

Airport!

Posting from TIA--
Well our trip is off to an interesting start, our flight has been delayed because we are waiting on our plane to take us to Miami to arrive! So we're all killing time in various ways :) Once we land in Miami we will have about 10 minutes to get to our connecting flight to Panama.... Positive thinking, we're going to make that flight! We're all excited and talking about our expectations and concerns... the language barrier seems to be a big one.
For now that's all, looking forward to this great adventure and learning experience!!
Sandy H.