December 4, 2023 — Completing clinical rotations on the way to earning a physician assistant (PA) master’s degree is always an intense and eye-opening experience. For four students in bet亚洲365欢迎投注的私人助理硕士课程这一经历远远超出了一般的临床培训. 

Caitlin Conner, Mbuyi Kalemba, Ryan Morris, 和Aleisann Wolliaston是第一个选择这样做的人 完成他们在加纳的一次轮岗, exposing them to a variety of important technical and cultural skills that will enhance working in the U.S. healthcare system. 这四个人都在努力争取在2024年获得学位. 这段经历是bet亚洲365欢迎投注与 海岸角大学，让学生沉浸在加纳医疗保健领域的核心.

“These rotations prepare students to be culturally aware, competent, and sensitive,” said 雪莉Fletcher-Hall临床教育协调员. “They are intended to enhance the students’ education about healthcare disparities and adequately prepare them to interact with and treat patients of different ethnic backgrounds.”

The Ghana rotation was the fifth of nine total rotations that the students will complete as part of the PA master's degree. 他们各自在该地区的两家医院工作, 他们对病人进行评估, 参与床边程序, 并深入了解了该国医疗保健的运作方式. 

From left to right: Aleisann Wolliaston, Ryan Morris, Caitlin Conner, and Mbuyi Kalemba. 图片来源:Nelson Echeverria/Marist College.

Kalemba worked at the Trauma and Specialty Hospital in Winneba and the District Hospital in Twifo Praso. 从协助剖腹产到与医生讨论治疗方案, 她在加纳的经历丰富了她的职业生涯，也充实了她的个人生活.

“I am from Africa and wanted to go back and really be entrenched and experience what healthcare is like there,” she said. “这是许多临床医生没有的独特经历, 我认为它拓宽了我作为一名研究生和未来的研究生的视野.”

Mbuyi Kalemba站在温内巴创伤和专科医院外. 图片由Mbuyi Kalemba的M24提供.

Conner, who earned a Master’s of Science in Public Health before enrolling in the PA program, 她说她在海岸角教学医院和圣. Francis Xavier Hospital in Assin Fosu opened her up to the differences in medical practice compared to what she was used to in the United States.

“有几件事引起了我的注意，”康纳说. “Antibiotics are available over the counter without a prescription, for example. 此外，人们对草药的依赖程度也相当高, and patients often delay care in order to try herbal medicines first or stop taking their prescribed medication in favor of herbal remedies.”

Caitlin Conner presents her experience and research findings at the 美利学生中心 after returning to Marist’s Poughkeepsie campus. 图片来源:Nelson Echeverria/Marist College.

Approaching these differences is part of what makes the Ghana experience so unique, 并帮助学生更好地了解全球医疗保健状况.

“In the USA, diagnostic and laboratory testing is readily available,” said Fletcher-Hall. “In Ghana, PA students rely on critical thinking to assess and diagnose their patients.”

Wolliaston worked in Family Medicine and found the experience to be a bridge between classroom knowledge and real-world application. 

Aleisann Wolliaston (right) works at the trauma and specialist hospital in Winneba. 图片由Aleisann Wolliaston的M24提供.

"I think experiences such as this one are important as a healthcare student or provider because it helps you develop that level of interprofessional relationship with other providers and helps you become culturally competent," Wolliaston said.

同时学习医疗实践的细节, students also found opportunities to embody Marist’s commitment to community service in their time in Ghana.

Morris, who worked in the same hospitals as Conner, helped organize a medical supplies drive. 认识到资源方面的差异, 他动员力量募集捐款, 包括400美元现金, a new Automated External Defibrillator and various medical and school supplies.

Ryan Morris and Caitlin Conner with colleagues and medical supplies collected through their donation drive. 照片由瑞安·莫里斯的M24提供.

“As Marist students, 医学专业的学生, I feel we want to try and make a positive impact wherever we go and collecting donations was the least we could do,” Morris said. “作为第一批参加这个轮岗的人, it was also important to us that we expressed our gratitude for being given the opportunity to go the the Ghanaian hospitals and learn with their students.”

在医疗环境之外, 四名学生都能够探索他们居住的地区, visiting national parks and important historical areas as well as learning cultural traditions.

Kalemba说:“这段经历在文化上是惊人的. “加纳人民非常友好、热情，他们张开双臂接受了我们.”

反思他们的经历, each student unequivocally recommended the Ghana rotation to future PA students. Morris emphasized its unique blend of healthcare and cultural immersion:  "I feel that opportunities to experience a culture as rich as Ghana’s, 尤其是像我们这么亲密, are rare yet wildly important for the cultivation of empathy and an open mind. 这两点对现代医疗保健提供者来说都是无价的."

Marist aims to further develop its collaboration with University of Cape Coast, 根据 高等教育 is among 非洲顶尖大学. 

“这种伙伴关系提供了在许多层面上合作的机会, 包括教师和学生交流, 联合研究机会, 学习编程, and more,” said Gavin Webb, 国际项目主任. “The collaboration between our Physician Assistant Studies Departments is hopefully the first among many opportunities for this growing relationship between Marist and UCC.”