Study Abroad: Ireland, 2023

I had the opportunity to attend a faculty-led trip to study the health system and provide community healthcare at Ionad Naomh Padraig (INP), a rural community center in Donegal, Ireland. We provided basic healthcare to over 200 Irish citizens and Ukrainian refugees. This included blood pressure, blood sugar, vision checks, as well as education in nutrition, physical exercise, and stress relief techniques.

Four generations of Ukrainian refugees sheltering in Donegal.

What We Learned in Ireland

Local community leaders provided lessons on a range of topics, such as genealogy, the Irish healthcare system, local languages, and medicinal plants.

We learned the importance of interprofessional collaboration and were able to apply it to a healthcare setting. The Irish have “social prescribers” whose job it is to connect community members with groups and activities that improve their mental and physical health. It was an idea I was able to bring back to the US as an opportunity for future local implementation.

The local social prescriber with our cohort of two professors and 18 students studying exercise science, nursing, and public health.