Internship

​During my time in Argentina and participating in my internship at Centro de Salud N° 33 I gained a better understanding about the healthcare world as well as a better perspective of what it would look like to work in a foreign country. Being a language and international health student Clemson requires us to complete an internship with a minimum of 130 hours in our target language. To many that sounds like a lot, but to me it sounded like an amazing opportunity and was the main reason why I transferred to Clemson University.  

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Serving others and gaining a global perspective has been something I have always been passionate about. I dreamed of working alongside various international organizations to reach populations that were underserved and who were the most vulnerable within their communities, but I didn’t necessarily know how I was going to make that happen. Before high school I knew very little about public health and the healthcare field, until my eyes were opened by some of my amazing health professors who shined light on the many careers and opportunities within those professions. They constantly emphasized that there are many paths to reach a destination and to always have an open mind because you don’t know what you might gain from something that initially wasn’t something you would ever consider. 

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Through my internship I was able to live out part of that dream, by reaching communities and populations who are vulnerable all while learning about their daily lives. Being able to assist the doctors I was shadowing by taking vitals and interacting with the patient while they communicated with the parents will be the one of the biggest things that made me feel like I was on the right path. On days that it was slower I would wander around the clinic trying to capture every detail or see if the other departments like the nurses or lab technicians needed help. Acquiring knowledge in professions I would never have imagined was very beneficial as it gave me a more rounded perspective of international health within a foreign municipal health clinic. Adapting to my environment and remaining flexible are the greatest strengths I obtained at the clinic simply because every day was different, keeping everyone on their toes to expect the unexpected.

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 Interning at Centro de Salud N° 33 made me envision all the different possibilities of being able to help and serve where I am needed most. One of the most impactful encounters I had while helping at the clinic wasn’t even with the physician I was shadowing. Due to an unforeseen circumstance the pediatrician I was shadowing had to take care of, I ended up tagging along with the OBGYN to her consultations. Intentionally I was very hesitant because I did not have a strong interest in that particular specialty, but knew I may never be presented with an opportunity like this again. I helped chart and take notes during her consultation, listening to what questions she asked and how she went about checking pregnant patients or patients who came in for general women's health. During the first pregnant patient’s consultation she asked about HIV, whether she and/or the baby’s father had been tested or if there was a history of other sexually transmitted diseases (STD’S). At first I was in shock because while they do have testings for HIV and STD’s in the U.S., having to ask a pregnant patient if it could be a possibility of contracting this disease really made me step back and analyze the differences between the Argentine healthcare system and the U.S.’s healthcare system. After my shift with the OBGYN I went home and started to research what role HIV and AIDS plays in the countries populations and if it’s still relevant and/or prevalent within these countries.  Following this interning shift I started to look out for other HIV and AIDS relevant things within the clinic, and noticed while helping the lab technicians input lab test results in the clinics database that patients with HIV were marked. I did this multiple times throughout the 5 months I was there and every time I still found myself shocked at the amount of patients who were affected by the disease. 

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These experiences helped guide my internship paper as I did not participate in a big project, focusing on smaller ones within my placement. This allowed for me to truly immerse myself in all aspects of their healthcare system as well as gain an unbelievable amount of knowledge from the pediatrician, OBGYN, and the rest of the clinic staff.  I am grateful to say that not only did I get to shadow in a health clinic in Argentina, but I also got to attain a deeper respect towards all healthcare professionals within the country. This experience gave me a valuable glimpse at what my future could look like, and I am excited to see what comes my way.