Internship, Research & Study in Dominican Republic

I participated in a semester-long health related internship in Santo Domingo, where I worked at a children's hospital and at a local NGO that helped diabetic children. My internship allowed me to apply the skills I learned in my undergraduate program (public health), while also teaching me skills that I will need for my future career (medicine). This internship in Dominican Republic gave me the opportunity to see and learn things that I would have otherwise not have been able to in the United States. My bosses were always incredibly understanding and flexible with me, and InteRDom staff was always easy to reach. Beyond this, I felt that I really got the opportunity to go out on my own, be independent, and explore Dominican culture first-hand. I loved this experience so much that I have decided to extend the internship for a longer time!

We were a group of four students, we initiated the Service Learning Program which provided us with exposure to social and economic issues in the Dominican Republic. We managed to put some of our expertise whether it was International Relations or Film, and together, we were able to provide some sort of support, while learning about how other organizations work hard to develop education in underprivileged communities. I think one of the challenges we encounter was trying to adapt to the different culture and environment. Our day to day mostly consisted of going to conferences and meeting with different corporate executives of well established companies in Dominican Republic, we will meet with these executives and ask questions regarding work flow in the DR, for example, we met with executives from the American Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic. We also took lots of trips in which we learned about the Dominican Republics history and Caribbean Culture and the agriculture business. I loved every minute of this experience and I was very impress by the loyalty and knowledge of the program directors/managers.