Graduate Health Sciences Adventure: Speech, Audiology, Occupational, and Physical Therapy

This past week I went to Turks and Caicos along with the AuD students from my program as an SLP graduate student! Therapy Abroad connected us with the TCI Ministry of Health, allowing us to gain experience and insight of our fieldwork at a systematic level. This experience was the perfect amount of work, while still allowing us to experience the culture (and amazing food) of TCI! I feel my skillset as a clinician grew throughout the week as I got to work with a variety of different ages in different primary school settings. Therapy Abroad always made sure we were taken care of. Our place to stay was in a very central location which made exploring very convenient. An experience I will always be grateful for as I enter my career!

A very informative and beneficial learning experience for my graduate program. I gained hands on experience working with students on the island. It was an amazing and productive time! The opportunity to interact with schools, the ministry of health, and other professionals in the field was enlightening and helpful for my future career. This rich experience supported my future work as a clinician by enhancing my global perspective. If you have an opportunity to do this trip-definitely recommend.

The social aspects were amazing! We loved going around to the local restaurants, shops, and getting lots of beach time. The communication though for the program was a bit disorganized. A lot of plans for going to the schools were day of decisions. Navigating without a specific schedule was a little difficult but overall the experience was unforgettable. We had so much fun in the schools and being able to help such a wonderful community. I’ve learned so much on this trip and really enhanced my clinical skills.

This was hands down the best experience of graduate school. Learning about the programs and needs on Providenciales, and getting to work with students of all support needs and backgrounds was a great learning experience and worth every minute. Being part of a collaborative team of classmates and professionals was fun and challenging, and we all left feeling like we made a real impact in the schools and for the SLP on the island. 10/10 would recommend, wish I could start grad school all over again and participate in a program with Therapy Abroad 2 more times!

A group of 8 speech pathology grad students, 2 professors, and about 8 Therapy Abroad professionals were part of the team which traveled to the beautiful Turks and Caicos Islands. The Special Needs Unit of the Dept of Education hosted us very generously and we enjoyed the beaches and local food. We met families of children with communication difficulties, did evaluations, and ran a camp for three days. I had the privilege of working with four autistic boys between ages 3 and 6 as well as some overlap with other campers whose diagnoses varied. I loved seeing their comfort level change from day one (clinging to the parent's leg, teary-eyed) to day three (running in to the gym for a hug and leading me by the hand to our first activity). I think we could have been more effective if we had meetings with the campers' parents and completed informal evaluations of the kids before we launched into camp. This was the first time Therapy Abroad ran a camp like this in Turks and Caicos, so it served as a good starting place. It was also interesting to visit schools and observe members of our team strategizing with local special needs advocates to work on ways to improve access to services throughout the country. In our spare time, we enjoyed a truly unforgettable boat tour and I was introduced to a bright, colorful world under the ocean's surface as we snorkeled. We also enjoyed a fish fry in the community and visits to local restaurants. Overall, this experience was intensely difficult and intensely fun - very formative for me as a student clinician, a traveler, and a friend within my cohort.

The Therapy Abroad trip I took to Turks and Caicos was one I will never forget. It was the first time Therapy Abroad had gone to Turks and Caicos, so there was some typical bumps and miscommunications as we got set up and provided evaluations to some kids and therapy camp for other kids for 3 days. The amount of growth that each child and student had was unbelievable. The staff on the trip was warm and welcoming, and when we weren't providing services to the children of TCI we were making memories together!

This Therapy Abroad trip to Turks and Caicos was a wonderful experience in which I gained a lot of experience doing speech therapy with autistic and non verbal children. There is a large need of services in the area, and I hope that others get the chance to go back. The activities that were done outside of the therapy camp were super fun, and the area was beautiful! We went snorkeling and to the beach often. The hotel we stayed at was very nice and I felt safe there. Overall, very glad I went and it was totally worth it!

My experience was unique because it was the first every speech-language pathology therapy aboard to Turks & Caicos island. I had the opportunity to work with other professionals like PT/OT, behavioral specialist, other SLPs, and the TCI special needs unit. I gained so much clinical knowledge and hours towards my graduation requirements for my masters degree. I also learned a lot of skills involving parent and teacher education. I gained more cultural competence working in the Turks and Caicos Islands!