Rachel Conley ’19 has long contemplated a profession in worldwide remedy.
An arms-on scientific internship at a health facility in Rwanda moved her from “pondering” it to “making plans.”
Conley observed her preference to find out about different fitness care structures and benefits for scientific faculty using interning at the Hospital La Croix Du Sud in Kigali, Rwanda.
“I started most mornings at paintings shadowing within the surgical ward,” Conley says. “It became a captivating revel in and something I have in no way visible before. Being inside the room at some stage in surgery is a totally eye-beginning experience. It forces you to stand the fact of ways fragile lifestyles are and how critical a physician’s paintings are. There is no room for blunders whilst you are operating on a person. Being able to see that first hand became pretty humbling. The surgeons I labored with are incredible and worked hard to ensure I understood the whole lot happening.”
“Being within the room in the course of surgical treatment is a totally eye-opening enjoy and forces you to face the fact of the way fragile lifestyles are and how essential a physician’s paintings are. There isn’t any room for errors while you are running on a person. Being able to see that first hand turned into pretty humbling.”
Conley obtained internship investment via the St. Olaf Piper Center for Vocation and Career to assist her paintings in Rwanda. The investment, which supports students who pursue unpaid or underpaid internships, is part of the university’s commitment to assisting students as they navigate potential professional paths.
Conley was a chemistry teaching assistant at St. Olaf for 2 years, became the soccer supervisor in 2017, and researched organometallic chemistry thru the St. Olaf Chemistry Department within the fall of 2016. In addition to this work, she shadowed at several hospitals in Minneapolis and has her Certified Nursing Assistant certification.
Conley additionally participated in the St. Olaf Peruvian Medical Experience, a signature examine overseas course for pre-health college students. Oles spend three weeks in Cuzco, Peru, assessing patient needs in a public hospital, a homeless shelter, orphanages, and a small village. Through this carrier-based enjoy, college students examine fundamental clinical strategies, look at emerging illnesses, and observe existing health care problems.
Experiences like these are what make St. Olaf’s rigorous pre-fitness application so successful at getting ready students for admission to scientific and dental school. St. Olaf has a robust track record of making ready students for careers in medicinal drug and the fitness sciences, maximum notably as physicians, nurses, and bodily therapists. Students gain from a rigorous and vast liberal arts education, one-on-one advising, college-scholar research collaborations, internships, and clinical experiences at pinnacle fitness care agencies.
While the Hospital La Croix Du Sud is just like clinical centers inside the U.S., Conley had the possibility to resource in cases she had visible little earlier than and for which medical providers used distinct tactics.
“It’s also been certainly impactful to peer a few illnesses which might be less common within the U.S. For example, even as I was within the pediatric ward, we had some cases of malaria, which I had no longer definitely been uncovered to earlier than,” Conley says. She additionally had the opportunity to learn about remedy techniques no longer usually used in the U.S. “Something that caught out that I assume is super cool is the usage of honey in wound care,” she says. “When a patient had a wound that becomes badly inflamed, nurses could put honey inside the wound with gauze. It attracts out the infection and works as an antibiotic. I’ve visible how nicely it really works.”