Senior Students Volunteer in the Dominican Republic

In late January 2024, a team of 14 senior OT students and two faculty chaperones traveled over 1500 miles to engage in a transformative Level I fieldwork experience bridging professional healthcare attributes with global awareness initiatives.

Students and faculty traveled from Scranton to San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic (DR), a community plagued by poverty, unjust healthcare, and inadequate education, to partner with Cambiando Vidas (meaning “changing lives”). Cambiando Vidas is a grass-roots organization of the DR linking the United States and DR through the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Through a complete house build in under five days, foundation to fixtures, a healthcare pop-up clinic for a community with non-existent healthcare and hands-on experience observing and also treating clients in an interdisciplinary rehabilitation center, Asociacion Dominicana de Rehabiltacion Filial San Juan, both Scrantoncommunity and DR-community members achieved just that. Every day included immersive activities focusing on the daily life, language, customs, and cuisine.

While the San Juan DR community lacks resources, healthcare, and education, they do not lack connectedness. The OT Scranton group was welcomed in and became a part of this community for a short week. As the trip closed and many hugs and tears were shed, each member knew that this was an experience they would never forget.

Through this experience of uniting healthcare and humanitarianism, the group created bonds with one another and also with those whose lives they touched. While physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging, each member was changed and will carry their new knowledge into their future careers as therapists and as engaged citizens of the world to do for others.

If you are a current junior interested in this fieldwork opportunity, please be on the lookout for emails from Dr Nealon