NYIT Medical Team Testimonies

You probably already know that we love short-term teams! And we especially love it when folks share their experiences and photos with us. It is always refreshing to see Haiti again through the eyes of those who are experiencing it for the first time, or who are learning new things on a return trip.

For the past couple of summers, teams of medical students from New York Institute of Technology have been spending one or two weeks with us in Peredo. They’ve been working alongside our Haitian medical staff – observing, learning, teaching, and doing. Sometimes the NYIT team helps with medical outreaches. We blogged about last summer’s special medical outreach clinic in Kapotyer, another clinic held in Grand Bois, and a clinic held in Seguin in 2017. These outreaches are always great encouragements to the churches in these villages as it gives them a very practical and needed way to help the community.

We are grateful two of the medical students shared what their 2016 experiences meant to them. And we are looking forward to hosting NYIT students for a week again this summer and a few residents in January 2018.

Kiriaki Fotiadis 

Though I went to Haiti with the hopes of helping others, I believe I received more from the experience than anything. One of the most amazing parts of my experience was when I was able to see a baby’s heart beat on an ultrasound monitor. The fact that there even was this kind of equipment in the clinic seemed atypical and unusual for a country like Haiti, and it thrilled me to know that women have this option for their prenatal care.

In the courses that I took about global health before my trip, it was saddening and surprising that many women in developing countries do not even go to doctors during their pregnancy, and many give birth at home with family members or midwives. The fact that Dr. Alexander was able to meet with pregnant women from the surrounding areas, take measurements, and follow the pregnancy with an ultrasound machine was incredible and should be the norm.

There is far more work to do there, especially with medical care, and we all appreciate any help we can get. Thank you Haitian Christian Outreach for your unwavering work and for my experience.

Daniel Mor

I visited Haiti in the summer of 2016. I, along with 3 other DO (Doctor of Osteopathy) students and 3 PA (Physician Assistant) students, am part of the NYIT-COM global health program and just finished my first year of medical school. I arrived in Haiti with the expectation of learning a lot of medicine, and although I did learn a lot, it doesn’t even compare to what I learned about life and myself. Words can’t describe the lifestyle and attitude of Haitian people. They have an outlook on life that is inspiring. They are people that do not have much, yet always find a reason to smile. This is something that can only truly be experienced when you step out of your comfort zone and into another world.

What Haiti did for me was validate the choices I have made in my life. Every hour I spent studying and dreaming of becoming a doctor is now backed by my experiences in Haiti, and the only way I can repay for this new outlook of my chosen career is to push myself harder and become the best doctor I can be. Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible. It has forever changed my life.