Hi everyone! My name is Rachel Tam and I’m a rising sophomore from Central Jersey, planning on concentrating in Neuroscience with a certificate in Global Health and Health Policy. On campus, I’m part of Pace Center’s Student Volunteers Council Board, Princeton Disability Awareness, the Daily Princetonian, and Partners in Health Engage, a global health club.
This summer, I’m interning with Child Family Health International in Ecuador, a nonprofit education that specializes in global health education. I worked with Dra. Susana Alvear to conduct a literature review about rural telemedicine in the Andean states, as well as attended weekly lectures about different aspects of the Ecuadorian healthcare system. Moreover, I’m taking medical Spanish classes twice a week as well as a fun class to learn more about various aspects of the culture in Ecuador. While I was disappointed I wouldn’t be able to visit Ecuador, explore Quito, and zipline through the Amazon rainforest, I still had the opportunity to play a traditional game, Parame la mano, and make Ecuadorian ceviche from scratch, which was delicious!
My daily routine was pretty variable as my internship was virtual, but most days, I would have one or two meetings either with Dra. Alvear or my Spanish instructor. In between and after my meetings, I would work on researching for my literature review, first gathering various research papers, then analyzing and adding them to my paper.
This internship has taught me so much about health inequities, from inaccessibility to insufficient financing, and programs that countries have established to help solve those problems. I hope that one day when the pandemic is over, I’ll be able to visit Ecuador in person and witness the stunning beauty that I have only seen through images thus far!
