Camosun Study Abroad

The nursing care we were able to provide was something you can only experience there. I took 3,000 photos there and it wasn’t enough. I wish I could have captured everything. One thing I did bring home were 6 best friends and colleagues who I spent an unforgettable 5 weeks making memories with. My only advice is that if you are unsure of whether to go or not, “jump”- that’s what an instructor told me and I never looked back. I had more personal growth over the five weeks we were there than in the last two years of my life. It consistently challenged me, forced me to adapt, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. When I look back on my nursing degree, this is what I will remember.

I have done some traveling previous to this trip, but getting the chance to study abroad is like no other travel you will experience. Before our arrival in Cuba we got the chance to study the country, politics, culture, people, and the Spanish language. Having this prior knowledge allowed for a wider understanding of life in Cuba. We were able to connect with the people we met (which were many) about their life, culture and personal struggles. We really felt as if we were positively contributing to the relationship between Canada and Cuba.

We got to experience Cuban culture to its’ full richness. We participated in everything from salsa and percussion lessons, to university lectures, to beach days.

One of the best parts of this study abroad experience was our group of students and our professors. I really feel as though I have new beautiful connections, both educational and personal. You spend everyday with this small group of people. We roomed together, ate together, studied together and traveled together. We started as strangers and left as friends.

Nothing brings people together quite like sharing cramped buses, small rooms, interesting food and emotional rollercoasters. All of which is part of the traveling experience.

If you have the chance to study abroad, I hope this inspires you to take the opportunity and go for it! 

Nursing in New Zealand was an eye-opening experience – while everything on the surface seemed similar, a lot of their practices were different, and forced me to engage and learn in new ways. I came away with a lot of new ideas about what my nursing practice should look like, and feel I grew a lot in my time there. Beyond the nursing experience, my friends and I had time to explore New Zealand a bit. We took advantage of our weekends, to do things in and around Wellington, where we were based. We also had a chance to do a longer trip, and a few of us were able to stay on for a couple weeks after the practicum ended. I made friends there I know I want to visit in the future and got just enough of a taste of New Zealand that I know I have to return and see more of it. After just 6 weeks, it already felt like a second home.

I feel so lucky to have had two friends from my cohort going with me, but even then, we were all going into an experience somewhat outside of our comfort zones. Not just working on the units together, but living, commuting, and eating together for five weeks really brought us all together, and fast. And I’m thankful for that these people were the ones who helped make this such an incredible experience. We explored a new city and got lost together, supported each other on the hard days, and were always there for each other when we needed to debrief after a long day. Having them by my side to work through all the intricacies of learning a new way of nursing was so meaningful. We all brought our own experiences from home, and we all had our own experiences in New Zealand, and this meant we could piece things together as we were going, rather than having to learn and process everything alone. I had two friends come with me on this adventure, but I feel very lucky to have come back with four more.

Cuando mi vida ha pasado, se que he pensado. He pensado y me sentido. Cuando senti, tome accion. Si penso en lo que me importa y decide hacerlo asi. Entonces el cielo se encuenra con la tierra y el que soy. Pensa. Reflejar. Proceder.

There are some positives and negatives to this way of scheduling the classes. It is nice because you have some lighter weeks where you will only have a few classes to attend. However, it can be difficult to plan excursions and day trips during the week because your courses can be switched around on you. Another benefit that I have found with this way of doing it is that your schedule stays fresh. Some days you will be in class for 9 hours, and those days can feel extremely long. On other days, you will only have to pop in for 1 class, and that can break up a day nicely. Overall, you will need to adjust to the different type of schedule, but it was a smooth transition for me, and it can be for you as well.

Working in a different hospital system provided a lot of fresh ideas on providing personalized and improved care for patients. I worked on a neurosurgery and neuroscience ward, which provided a lot of opportunities to work with patients with conditions I’d never encountered – strokes, brain injury, seizures. I wasn’t sure what to expect on the floor, but it turned out to be a valuable practicum. The nurses we worked with were encouraging, trusting, and put us in positions to learn as much as possible. We were in a preceptor-style situation, where we worked directly with our nurses, rather than with our instructors. This provided a lot of opportunities to practice skills and become independent, whereas at home we’re often restricted by having to wait for our instructors, meaning we miss a lot of opportunities. 

I’ll carry forward the experiences of learning about the methods used in a different healthcare system and working with a different demographic. I hope I’m lucky enough to return, as it’s somewhere I can really see myself working in the future.

I am certain that every person that boarded that plane to Cuba In June 2019 returned to Canada with a different world view and a mind fully inspired to make positive change. Personally, after being involved in this excursion I have gained much more confidence, both in myself and the future of our global community.

This is a short video of some of our experiences in Holguin with the university as well as the Canadian students involved in the trip. 

After visiting San Pancho I know now that this isn’t the case for most people, especially in developing countries, many of which have never had access to care, let alone any sort of education related to dental care. We are so privileged in Canada with the latest and greatest equipment, with reclining patient chairs, and sanitized clean, sharp instruments, and as silly as it sounds padded and comfortable operator chairs. Therefore, after having spent two weeks in San Pancho and having no available dental clinics to work in, our only means of providing care was in the local community center where we transformed the cement gymnasium into a makeshift clinic. We used foldable beach chairs as client chairs, and children’s beach stools as operator chairs, we had no lights and no proper equipment to work with, but regardless it was the most satisfying experience I have ever partaken in. 

Regardless of the challenging situation and far from perfect environment we were working in, what made the backbreaking work so worth it was the smiles we saw after each two hour appointment. Despite the pain and discomfort that each and every client experienced, not one ever complained, but rather each client we saw thanked us for what we were able to provide, and for the education they had ever been given before. The clients were significantly more difficult than the clients we practice upon here in Canada, and it was rewarding to see the changed that we could make for them in such a short duration of time.