Hear from our interns
A Reflection On My Time in the Dominican Republic
Two months flew by in what feels like the blink of an eye. Yet I can still recall how I felt on day one: nervous, but eager for the summer ahead. The idea of spending two months in the Dominican Republic felt both exciting and daunting. Looking back, this experience...
Never Forgetting a Single Moment – Reflection Time!
Hey everybody!! Thank you so much for checking back in with the blog. I can hardly believe how quickly these two months have passed. It feels like just yesterday I was getting off the plane, absolutely petrified yet excited at the same time. Looking back, every...
Closing Off in Santiago: Shadowing at Circuimed – Week 8
Thank you for coming along until our very last week of the internship! These 8 weeks have flown by, and It’s been an incredibly rich and rewarding experience. From Saturday through Wednesday, I dedicated my time to working on a report for the reusable feeding syringe....
Out and About – Week 7
Hello everybody, and welcome back to the blog!!! As our internship comes to an end, I have been trying to take in every moment here: the people, the culture, and everything we have been learning. This week, Dr. Lee visited the country, and we traveled with her to San...
A Week of Gaining Context Into the NICU: Design, Challenges, and Gaps
This past week, we continued our work in understanding the context of challenges with incubators in the NICU in the Dominican Republic. On my own, I’ve continued my development of the syringe model and researched into possible needs/use cases for NeoFeed. On...
A Week of Gratitude, Growth, and Guanabanas – Week 5
I find it difficult to put into words how wonderful our experience has been so far. Words alone don’t capture the passion, love, and sheer determination of the people we’ve met along the way. As my co-intern mentioned in his blog, we had the blessing of visiting...
Innovation and Inspiration in Barahona and Beyond: A Trip to the Southwestern Coast of The Dominican Republic
This week has been incredibly informative and exciting. From Sunday through Wednesday, we visited multiple hospitals in the southwest region of the Dominican Republic with Dr. Floren, the president of the Dominican Foundation of Mothers and Infants (DOFMI). We...
Ignited Passion – Week 4
Hello again! It’s kind of wild to realize we’ve already been in the Dominican Republic for a month now. Time really does fly when you’re fully immersed in meaningful work and constantly learning in a new place. This week was one of my favorites so far! It was packed...
A Week Observing Maternal and Infant Care in Los Mina Hospital
This week, I had the privilege of observing maternal and neonatal care at Los Mina Hospital. We began this week in the kangaroo care unit, where I met Dr. Adalia De La Cruz and Dr. Guillermina Nadal. Kangaroo care involves placing premature babies skin-to-skin against...
Inspiration All Around! – Week 2
This week has been nothing short of incredible. From walking through centuries of history in the colonial zone to examining NICUs, I felt like I was straddling two worlds—one foot in the past, one charging toward the future of medicine. We started off by visiting...