What were the strengths of your placement?

On this placement, I got a TON of hands-on experience. I was able to apply the skills we learned in class to work with patients in two extremely busy clinics. 

What were the challenges of your placement?

Some of the resources were quite limited, as Guyana is a developing country. We had to work with very basic equipment, a lot of which wasn't in great condition. We often had to be creative in our treatment strategies!

What were the lessons learned while doing your placement?

I learned that we really shouldn't take interprofessional teams for granted. Guyana doesn't have any OTs, and we didn't have any interaction with social work, nutrition, or speech language pathologists. This got frustrating in a few instances where as PTs, we just didn't have the specific skill sets to offer to patients in need.

Was there a highlight of your placement?

For me, it was getting to work with the pediatric neuro population... but of course, getting to tour around the country wasn't bad either!

Overall comments on your placement experience:

I really enjoyed this opportunity! I'd highly recommend an international placement to any student who has the option in the future; it was so worth it! ​