Floating Doctors

I had the amazing time with Floating Doctors in Panama. Managed to see first hand how One Health approach in remote communities. Being a vet myself, it was an amazing for me to both learn and contribute. Rewarding but challenging, Floating Doctors is achieving a tremendous, community-led change.

Wepa! I’m Alejandra Carbonell, a 3rd-year veterinary student from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷. I had long hoped to find an experience that would push me beyond what I knew, allow me to serve others, and experience a world beyond my own. But what I found with Floating Doctors went far beyond anything I could have imagined. For a month, it truly felt like I was living in a movie. Having grown up with relatively easy access to healthcare and health information, this experience served as a powerful reminder that health education is just as important as healthcare itself when it comes to creating sustainable change, especially in communities with limited access to care. During my time with Floating Doctors, I witnessed the lengths the team goes to reach these communities: from four-hour hikes through the mountains to five-hour boat rides across open waters. No mountain was too high and no journey was too far. As a veterinary student, I had the opportunity to grow in ways I never expected. I performed my first three spays, in an outdoor setting with the guidance of two passionate veterinarians and also the curious supervision of the kids from the community. I was also able to assist with an extremely rare ectopic pregnancy spay, encountered many cases of TVT, botflies, and screwworms and had the opportunity to serve as a translator between providers and patients. Outside of the clinic, I was lucky enough to witness dolphins leaping through the water, a sloth peacefully sleeping alongside her baby in a palm tree, glow worms visiting us on a full moon, and, on our very last day, a nurse shark circling the dock, as if coming to say goodbye. Staying with the communities where phones couldn’t always be charged,Wi-Fi couldn’t be reached and hot showers were not available reminded me that in simplicity we find true connection. Sometimes, it looks like bathing in the river with scrubs on, playing cards under the light of our headlamps, looking at the fireflies or bioluminescence under a summer night, watching children turn a wheelbarrow into a river float or sharing traditional dances from our home countries. Not even in my wildest dreams did I think I would be able to live an experience as wonderful as this and meet such beautiful souls from different parts of the world. Floating Doctors will stay with me forever; not just in my memories, but quite literally on my skin. Biti Ja Tuäita — “Nos vemos” / “See you later” en Ngäbe-Buglé.

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