Hey everyone,

Welcome back to my blog! Today marks exactly two incredible weeks of our stay in Santo Domingo, which is already a quarter of our total time here. The time is flying by, and I have so much to share with you all!

This week kicked off with a visit to a storage unit where we got an exclusive look at the array of devices and equipment that DOFMI focuses on. From Bubble CPAP devices and phototherapy lamps for jaundice to lullaby books designed to stimulate neonates, each one seemed uniquely impactful. I was especially excited to see their reusable neonatal bag-valve masks, a fascinating device for low-resource settings that I’ve had the opportunity to work with in the past.

As our mentor, Dr. George Suazo, presented each device, he discussed the issues DOFMI aims to address for each one. This provided us with a solid introduction to the work we’ll be doing with DOFMI and offered a fascinating insight into the multifaceted nature of global health solutions. It’s not just about engineering a device—addressing needs finding, design specifications for the setting, and incorporating feedback from stakeholders are crucial for a project to truly meet its intended goals.

The next day was marked by our second visit to the San Lorenzo Los Minas Maternal Hospital. This time, accompanied by Dr. Angelica Floren, we were able to take a closer look at the Pumani bCPAP machines currently in use in the NICU and PICU of the hospital. Afterwards, we also were guided through the stages of a hospital visit a pregnant mother would go through, from the waiting room all the way to the postpartum recovery room.

What stood out to me the most was the level of focus exhibited by every doctor, nurse, and birth attendant in each of these rooms. Despite the bustling hallways of the hospital, there was a remarkable, unspoken sense of coordinated efficiency. Many of the expectant mothers at Los Minas are Haitian and speak Creole, not Spanish. Yet despite this language barrier, the quality of care, meticulous attention to detail, and compassion remained consistently high and universally felt. The ability of the staff to maintain such standards in a challenging environment was truly inspiring.

The next day, we visited San Pedro Hospital, the first hospital in the Dominican Republic to utilize the Pumani bCPAP device. Upon inspecting the three Pumanis present, we found technical issues with two of them. We spoke with the birth attendants there as well, and it was inspiring to hear about the successful cases in whichthe Pumanis had made a significant difference.

Next, we traveled with Dr. Floren to various locations for possible maternal waiting rooms, low-cost places for high-risk mothers to wait and be transferred to a nearby hospital before delivery or complications.

Dr. Floren and our partners at DOFMI had already been working with a local church to find a location for the Dominican Republic’s first ever maternal waiting room, and it felt truly empowering to listen to them speak about these issues firsthand.

We wrapped up the day visiting a creole-speaking Dominican Batey, a location for undocumented second-and third-generation Haitians with no ties to their “homeland” Haiti. Our solution for maternal waiting rooms would be tailored to mothers in these Bateyes, largely due to their extensive distance from Dominican hospitals and clinics. The hospitality we experienced with residents of the Batey was incredible to say the least, and left me reflecting on why I find the field of global health so captivating.

I now realize that a powerful driving force of global health innovation is hope. Hope was reflected in the smiles of every person we met at the Batey, it fueled the unwavering focus of the healthcare professionals we encountered, and it is the primary source of motivation for our partners at DOFMI. At first glance, global health challenges sometimes appear overwhelmed with logistical hurdles such as language barriers and inadequate infrastructure.

However, it is hope that transforms these obstacles into opportunities for innovation and change. During our visits, we witnessed firsthand how the spirit of hope permeates every aspect of healthcare delivery. As we continue our work here, it’s clear to me that our mission goes beyond just providing technical solutions. We are here to support and amplify the hope that exists within these communities. By understanding their needs and working alongside them, we can co-create solutions that are not only effective but also sustainable.

The resilience and optimism I’ve encountered thus far reminds me that even in the face of challenges, hope can pave the way for meaningful and lasting change. In the coming weeks, I hope to contribute to this change in even the slightest of ways.

Thank you for reading, and until next time,

Ansh

                          Hey y’all, it’s nice to meet you!

My name is Ansh, and I’m a rising junior at Baker College majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Global Health Technologies. I was first introduced to the field of Global Health through the introductory GLHT201 course. A semester’s worth of lessons, talks from guest speakers, and team projects later, I decided to try hands-on engineering and design myself through the Introduction to Appropriate Global Health Design course. Alongside a team of four students, I worked to improve the complicated, unfamiliar nature of the Laerdal reusable neonatal bag-valve masks, a device commonly used in low-resource settings for newborn resuscitation. Our design process had to take into account the various constraints that extended beyond financial limitations–many of the birth attendants in these settings using this device had a limited education background and were less familiar with medical devices. To address this, we collectively designed an alternative device significantly reduced assembly and disassembly times, critical for urgent moments where such devices needed to be ready at a moment’s notice.

This experience placed me at the intersection of medicine and health technologies where I became fascinated by the idea of innovatively addressing health disparities across low-resource settings within realistic constraints. This summer, I’m thrilled to be part of Rice360’s internship team in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where I (alongside two teammates: Zoe Wang and Anathea Carrigan) will be working with the Dominican Foundation for Mothers and Infants (DOFMI) to assess some critical health challenges.

Since starting this internship, I feel like I’ve dove headfirst into a whirlwind of excitement and learning. Background research into the Rice360 projects we’re bringing to the Dominican Republic, literature reviews into the basis of the assigned DOFMI projects we’ll be working on, and meetings with our DOFMI partners have all headlined our preparation efforts.

Our first project involves a gastroschisis device made from urine and IV bags, an innovative, low-cost alternative to silo bags used to prevent neonatal deaths from gastroschisis. We’ll mainly be conducting bench and Full Scale model testing to evaluate the device’s performance in a controlled environment. For our second project, we’ll be working on ScarStretch, a tool aimed at improving the effectiveness of scar massage therapy in low-resource settings. Alongside Dr. Angelica Floren from DOFMI, we also plan on working on a series of projects exploring alternatives to maternal care facilities for Dominican mothers in rural settings, evaluating fetal heart rate monitors in maternal hospitals, and conducting a longitudinal scale survey of the current use of Pumani bCPAP machines in clinical settings across the country. Our goal is to reduce neonatal mortality while maintaining the highest standard of care for mothers, something I hope we can achieve as we take on these projects.

As I work alongside partners in this new, unfamiliar environment, I aim to maintain an open mindset working collaboratively across cultures, disciplines, and borders to develop sustainable solutions that improve health equity. I also hope to improve on my Spanish-speaking skills, especially amidst the rapid conversation-based clinical settings I plan on stepping into.

I’m consistently fascinated by the challenges healthcare professionals face to maintain the same level of high-quality care each day, with every single patient. One of the reasons I’m so passionate about global health is that it provides a sense of understanding to connect with people on a far deeper level, and this holds true regardless of setting. It’s about more than just treating diseases; it’s about understanding the social, economic, and cultural factors that influence health and working together to create environments where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. This internship is already proving to be an incredible journey of learning and growth, and I’m eager to see how much more I will gain from this experience.

As I embark on this journey, I am filled with a sense of purpose and excitement. I’m eager to learn from the challenges and successes that lie ahead, and I’m committed to making a meaningful impact through our work with DOFMI.

Thank you all for tuning in to my first blog post, and I hope you’ll stay around!