International Experiences

One of my favorite hobbies is traveling. Luckily, I have been able to embark on a journey learning the culture of Mexico. I traveled to Riviera Maya, Cozumel, Cancun, and Los Cabos. During my trips, I learned much about the differences between our dialects and 'types of Spanish'. I also learned about their traditions and cultural influences. I am excited to employ these teachings with my patients to make them feel a sense of belongingness as a venture into healthcare. 

Cuba has a special place in my heart. This beautiful country stores my roots and my history.

My parents are originally from a small province called Puerto Padre. I have visited Cuba on multiple occasions where my parents ensured I learned the cultures and experienced the variety between people of each province. Towards central Cuba, many words are spoken differently. The changes in language are a topic that have always sparked my interest and I hope to use these learnings to fairly evaluate multicultural individuals during their neuropsychological evaluations. There are too many words for one to know; therefore, their response may not be wrong, just a different version of mine. 

Additionally, Cuba produces many highly intelligent doctors with traditional methods since they have less resources. My aunt, a neuropsychologist in Cuba, has taken the time to teach me ways in which they learned differently to gain that multicultural perspective. Cuba also houses one of the best Autism programs where children with ASD swim and participate in therapy with dolphins, a project I hope to one day collaborate in. 

Even though Cuban roots are part of who I am, I do face challenges when visiting the country. Cuba lacks many resources and coming from a country with ample availability, you notice the great difference. Most times when we visit family, we leave all of our clothes and food so that they may use it since we can buy more here. You notice their lack of sanitization within the hospitals, their lack of supplies, and only money will help achieve your goals, but even then there are limits. Cuba was once a gorgeous city with Spanish-inspired architecture; however, due to deterioration and lack of care, it has started to crumble.

Despite these challenges, Cuba is a part of my story and I hope to learn from medical professions about how they survived these difficulties and techniques they use to continue saving lives even without endless resources and technology.

Spain was another country I had the privilege of visiting. The Spanish culture is beautiful and rich with history. I ventured into churches, government buildings, and museums to learn about their upbringings. I also conversed with locals to learn about their holiday traditions and their educational perspectives. In Spain, they believe in mental health and the importance of maintaining a balance between life and work. This perspective is different to the United States because we mention upholding good mental health through our work. The Spanish like to say that we work to live. These comparisons can change perspectives on how to live through life and decide on priorities. I think the best application when learning from different cultures is to take the best lessons and combine them to practice them throughout your life. 

Spanish for the Health Professions is a course available to undergraduate students at the University of Florida focusing on teaching health terminology in Spanish to prepare for the role of becoming an interpreter. The language was practiced speaking, writing, and reading in the classroom. The class is composed of students who speak different proficiency levels of Spanish. For instance, I am a native Spanish speaker who reads, writes, and speaks Spanish. The class difficulty was a bit easier because of all of my practice as a life-long interpreter to my family. However, the professor focused on challenging me with different prompts to further hone my bilingual skills in medicine.

The course provided a weekly quizlet with vocabulary of different body systems such as reproductive, gastrointestinal, psychological. This allowed us to explore the entire anatomy in Spanish throughout the semester. We would then watch videos and read stories about the context of using the words. Lastly, we would apply them in discussions to fully articulate the language. 

The professor allowed me to use the language within research and translate previous abstracts I had written for conferences in English to Spanish. This activity increased my understanding of the advantage of knowing multiple languages. Speaking informal Spanish with family in the comforts of home is different from presenting technical research at a conference in Spanish. Thankfully, my instructor gave me tips and showed me the various techniques to complete this task.

Now, I am actively finding ways to integrate my bilingual skills into my research and my training. I jump at any opportunity to use both languages in my learning. In the future, I aspire to publish research in both languages and collaborate with scientists all over the world. I believe collaboration is the key to cracking cures to diseases and furthering rehabilitation. 

I highly recommend enrolling in this course. It will inspire you to connect all your strengths in order to make you a better physician and it will demonstrate how to apply these techniques in your future careers, prioritizing patient care and comfort. 

The picture above demonstrates an abstract written in Spanish for a conference. In this lab, we studied the positive effect of implementing a CARS-2 evaluation for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. My goal is tot take the research I conduct, and report it in the languages I can to ensure different cultures receive equal access to the findings and information.

As part of a lab, I was trained in delivering neuropsychological evaluations both in English and Spanish. This battery included 13 evaluations that have been translated and previously administered to achieve normative data. The benefit of this is to prove the reliability in its translation, so that neuropsychologists can use it clinically. 

One of my goals in my career is to train in bilingual administrations of evaluations so that I may diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate multicultural populations. I learned much about the critically examined translations of every evaluation. I was also treated as a participant, so I experienced the struggles of being bilingual and knowing the answer in one language but being tested in another. All these experiences increase my understanding of what our population endures during neuropsychological appointments and fuels me to search for easier accommodations against the struggles. 

As I grew up in Florida, I learned the benefits of being bilingual and understanding multiple groups. I also witnessed first-hand the struggle of not being able to fully communicate with others from my family. Since I can remember, I assumed the role of being an interpreter for my family in physician appointments, visits to the bank, legal altercations, and any situation. Therefore, I know that in any career I choose, I have a duty as a bilingual to take my skills and help everyone feel represented and heard. This fuels me to jump at any opportunity to use both English and Spanish in my daily life. Patients who see that I can articulate the instructions and evaluations in any language they prefer, will increase their trust in me. They will feel more comfortable expressing their emotions and concerns, which, in turn, will allow me to better tailor rehabilitation to their needs. Overall, my bilingualism is one of the biggest strengths I will look to use within my career.