Photo: Belizean sunrise

Friday night, all the doctors from the hospital in Dangriga threw me a going away party. They all came out to Hopkins and we met at a bar/restaurant called Northbeach. It was fun. Unfortunately there were a couple of steps there that I didn’t see in the dark, and stepped off, spraining my ankle. I’ve been icing it and swimming for “hydrotherapy.”

Today, unbelievably, is my last day in Belize. It’s been a tough year (actually 9 months), but I’m glad I came. I think most of what I learned was in the area of “personal growth,” and learning to live in a 3rd world country as an “other.” I’m sure my perspective has changed but I probably won’t fully realize that until I’m back in the States.

I've been working on a paper about what I've done here, and am entitling it "Using telemed to improve access to healthcare in Belize: Lessons learned." In the last couple weeks, I've also been teaching staff at the hospital how to use the telemed system, and handing off responsibilities to them. I'm hoping they will take the opportunity and continue using telemed, so they can have access to the InterVol specialist physicians and continuing education.

After I leave here, I’m doing a couple of international medical school electives, and then will finish my 4th year of med school back in Rochester, starting in August. Thanks to everyone who has been reading this blog! --Tina

P.S. I've come to enjoy blogging, so I have decided to start a blog of my own for my personal future travels/adventures. Please feel free to visit it, at the following address: http://tinagaud.blogspot.com.