This year, health science teachers Angie Byrne, Alice Hyatt and Kendall Beasley are chaperoning Rose students on a medical mission trip to Panama. The trip is from June 11 through June 19, and this is the first year Rose teachers have sponsored a trip like this.

     Once students arrive in Panama, they will have a busy next few days as they work alongside doctors and engage in patient care.

     “We have event orientation where they’re gonna give us our job descriptions and tell us exactly what our expectations are and then we are going to serve in the mobile health clinic for five days,” Byrne said. “We have some enrichment days where we’ll go to a place called Monkey

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Graphic by Julius Jones

Island, do a beach day, a Panama Canal

tour and just some local cultural activities.”

     Byrne has been wanting to do a trip like this for a while but did not want to have to deal with the stress of planning the whole thing. She decided to plan this trip through a company called Global Brigades because they are making it most convenient for her and doing the majority of the planning.

     “When I talked to the gentleman that is the president of the company, he assured me of safety and insurance situations and this company has done numerous trips with student groups before,” Byrne said. “They seemed very trustworthy and they had schools and clinics that were a destination to go to.”

     Sophomore Taylor Eatman took Beasley’s Foundations of Health Science class last year and is taking Byrne’s Health Science I class right now. Both of these classes increased her interest in the medical field as she is now one of the many students planning on attending this trip.

     “I've always wanted to be something in the medical field, and I feel like this trip will help me learn about new cultures as well as different techniques I can use to help choose my path in the future,” Eatman said.

     To attend this trip, it is required that students are rising juniors or seniors or have recently graduated from Rose. Parents are also allowed to go if they would like. Students have to be CPR certified and have checked off on taking vital signs to go on the trip as well. These skills are taught in Health Science II, so if a student has not taken this class yet, they will need some extra help during Refresh to be prepared for Panama.

     Although this trip costs 2,700 dollars for a student to attend, this money covers all costs including flights and all meals. There will also be many fundraising opportunities for students who cannot afford the trip initially. Eatman’s mom, along with Byrne and many others, have been planning different fundraising opportunities for students who might be interested in the Panama trip.

     “There’s a group of parents that were working together to try to do some fundraising to help defer the cost to the students,” Byrne said. “We are still in the planning phases right now, but we’re going to seek some corporate sponsorships from local healthcare agencies and I think that’s probably going to be our biggest fundraiser.”

     In Panama, students will interact and participate in patient care which is a great opportunity and something hard to find since COVID.

     “Ever since COVID, in the United States, it’s really hard to get students this age good medical exposure other than job shadowing,” Byrne said.

     Byrne wants to take around 24 students on this trip, but if more are interested she would be willing to find another chaperone so those students could go.

     “Last time I checked there were 14 specifically signed up and I know five or six students who are very interested, but just haven’t signed up through the website yet,” Byrne said. “If we take 24, ten spots are available.”

     Eatman and Byrne cannot wait for the Panama trip this summer and hope to be able to take more trips like this in the future.

     “Some of the things that I am most looking forward to are working hands-on with people, learning from the various doctors who will be attending and just having a blast,” Eatman said. “I think that this is a great opportunity for you not only to learn skills, but also it will look great on your college applications and it will be a cool story.”