Program Reviews

Our trip to Belize in April 2021 was life changing to say the least. It was well organized with more learning opportunities than I could have ever imagined. The families were amazing and it was an honor to participate in parent education with them. I highly recommend this trip for any SLP’s; especially graduate clinicians! It was an amazing experience and I hope to come back very soon! Chad and his staff are amazing. We had flexibility with everything we done during the trip! The food was amazing!

What an adventure! This is going on vacation with a purpose! Where you can contribute so much to the people you visit. We were welcomed into the lives and homes of this hospitable nation. From shy smiles to big hugs and thank you speeches from Belizians, they touched our hearts forever.
Our hosts Chad and Ellen from therapy abroad were amazing! Their knowledge of the country and programs made it a rich experience, not to mention all the cultural hotspots we visited. It was a perfect balance between therapy and fun!

Therapy Abroad provided a safe, humbling, and fun academic experience! Belize is a beautiful country that unfortunately lacks resources and access to care. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to treat the underserved populations in different settings. Therapy Abroad made home visits possible! Every clinical experience elicited creative juices and teamwork. There was always an opportunity for the exchange of ideas. I strongly believe we grew as clinicians as we learned from each other and our clients. Chad and Ellen were knowledgeable leaders and amazing tours. They both did a great job in introducing us to all the wonderful aspects of the cultures in Belize. Thank you, Therapy Abroad.

Going into this program, I had no idea how much I would truly gain as a result of all of the experiences that are given through the two weeks of this program. Before coming to this program, I was not entirely sure that speech pathology was what I wanted to do with my life. However, now there is no doubt in my mind that this is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. Therapy Abroad not only gives students the opportunity to learn more about the life of speech pathologist and common tasks, assessments, and treatment activities but the program also gives the students the chance to implement and take charge in running said activities, while also sprinkling in fun along the way. I cannot say enough to truly grasp the level that this trip and experience truly impacted me, the lifelong friends I made, and all the memories it gave me. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to go into speech pathology.

I loved this experience and all of the things I learned while in Belize for two weeks. We led a therapy camp for children with special needs, visited villages for treatments, and also had lots of fun seeing Belize. I gained lots of experience writing SOAP notes, observing licensed SLP's and writing goals for the kids I worked with. We did lots of learning and work during the week, but had lots of fun on the weekends! I would definitely recommend this program to any undergrad or graduate student in communication sciences & disorders!

Words don't do this trip justice. The itinerary was spot on with great places to stay, delicious local restaurants, various cultures, breathtaking scenery, awesome group leaders (Chad & Ellen, hey!) , and beautiful people. This trip was nothing short of amazing. This opportunity really served as an eye opener to me. I am even more grateful for all I have and the fact that I am earning my masters in a field that does great things for great people who are so deserving. I wish I never left Belize. I will be back.....SUMMER 2021 I'm coming for ya! If you have the opportunity to study abroad with therapy abroad...YOU MUST DO IT! You won't regret it! :-)

It was really fun. Good balance of education and free time. The supervisors were great and Ellen was amazing. I loved Monkey Bay and the trip to Caye Caulker was a nice way to unwind after working at narcie for the previous two weeks. The one thing I didn’t love was everything I was expected to know prior to this trip. I am not studying SLP at my university and felt as though I was supposed to already be accustomed with everything we did. It was less about learning and more about applying the information. I wanted to go on this trip to help me decide what I want to do in graduate school and whether or not I wanted to pursue SLP. Other than that it was a great trip.

Throughout this experience, I was able to learn in an interactive educational environment and enhance core competencies in the field of speech language pathology, as well as enjoy the richness and challenges of service learning and traveling abroad. I was given the opportunity to work directly with clients, receive specialized training, and learn from experts in the field while also contributing to a unique cultural exchange experience.

Housing:
For the first few days of the trip, I stayed in Monkey Bay. It was dorm style housing. I stayed in a room with 8 other girls in the program. It was charming and SO much fun. Ellen was there every step of the way to make sure we had everything we needed. As a whole, I can't say enough nice things about Ellen! Monkey bay was great. The only downside of this place was the WiFi never worked. It made report writing and sharing very challenging. We tried to overcome this challenge by using and sharing flash drives. Also, the bugs at this location were pesky so don't skimp on bug spray!

Next, we stayed at Martha's Guesthouse in San Ignacio. This was another awesome accommodation. The WiFi and AC was a significant upgrade. There was plenty of room to complete our reports. The staff was friendly and the food was amazing.

Therapy Experience:
The therapy experience was amazing. We were able to see a wide variety of clients. We were not given much information on the clients before seeing them. This forced us to be extremely flexible. Prior to seeing the clients, we were only given their name and a possible date of birth. If you are a student clinician, here is a list of things I wish I had brought: nasal mirror, PECS to leave with families, latex free gloves, English and Spanish visuals with Belizean pictures, a tongue depressor, and ASL visuals.

Overall, this experience was incredible. If you are given the opportunity, GO! You will not be sorry.

Belize was an unbelievable experience. I gained clinical knowledge and traveled while doing it! I loved the variety of clinical settings that we experienced (villages, nursing home, schools). The food and juices were amazing.
If you have the opportunity, bring items that you can leave for the villages and/or schools. Stickers were a big hit! I would also recommend bringing a whiteboard and markers as they can be a great therapy tool!
I would highly recommend coming on this trip if you have the opportunity.

Going to Belize for the two-week program was an amazing experience. The supervisors were nothing but nice, the food was delicious, and the hands-on experience I participated in was exciting. I loved how all of the meals and excursions were paid for and how we got to stay on an island for the last weekend in Belize. Working with the children both at NaRCIE and during home visits in Belize was a humbling experience. I would highly recommend this trip to all who love to travel and speech pathology!