Peter LaPine, an associate professor in communicative sciences and disorders, stands in front of photos from his trips to Mexico and a sign made by residents of Nicte Ha, where he traveled with a class to work in a clinic.
When Rachel Geoghan walked down the streets of Nicte Ha, Mexico, residents thought she was a doctor.
Clad in scrubs, the communicative sciences and disorders graduate student was experiencing her first real-world clinical experience as part of a class trip.
The Medical Aspects of Speech-Language Pathology class, which traveled to Mexico from Nov. 5-10, worked with children with speech impairments at a clinic in the town of Nicte Ha.
Seven families were lined up to receive help from the class, along with other families that came into the clinic during the time the class was there.
On the first day of the trip, the class met with parents of children with speech impairments to talk about their concerns and what they planned to accomplish while the class was there.
Parents were eager to learn new communication tactics from the class, graduate student Anastasia Grohoski said.
“They were so grateful for what we’re doing … we were well received,” Grohoski said. “They told us, ‘You’re angels, you’re saving the world.’”
Before the trip, members of the class had been web-camming via the communication network Skype with the families from their location in Mexico — an idea that associate professor Peter LaPine said helped them better prepare for the trip.
“There were fewer surprises because of Skyping ahead of time,” LaPine said.
“We were more knowledgeable and it took us less time to get familiarized with the patients — it was easier than other times to get started.”
A physician from the College of Osteopathic Medicine joined the class on the trip to give the children checkups.
The class gave families communication exercises to work with after they’ve left, Geoghan said.
“We gave them as much to carry over, and as many exercises as possible,” she said.
At the end of each eight-hour day, the class would meet up for dinner and discuss what they could do next to help the families and their children.
“We brainstormed as fellow clinicians rather than students,” said Tamra Ross, a graduate student in the class who worked with a child who has Down syndrome.
Ross helped create a communication system for the child so that he could point at items he was interested in when interacting with his parents.
“It was exciting to see his parents light up when they saw him communicating,” she said.
The only regret about the trip, LaPine said, was not being able to stay longer.
“It’s hard to start something then to have to end it,” LaPine said. “I’m willing to wager these students will be different for the rest of their lives.”
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