The image above was taken during a medical aid campaign in Cusco Peru I volunteered at in 2014. Volunteering offers many opportunities to improve the lives of others as well as developing your own skills as a healthcare provider. 

My volunteer trip to Cusco provided me an amazing opportunity not just to see a picturesque location surrounded by the Peruvian Andes, but also to see the struggles and how this population lives, which lead to a better appreciation of what we have in Canada. This volunteer trip provided me with an opportunity to both hone my basic skills but also learn to work with fewer resources and less materials while still providing basic needs. During my time in Cusco I was able to travel the city of Cusco assisting in setting up mobile clinics providing healthcare to under serviced regions during a national healthcare strike leaving many without access to healthcare services. I was also able to develop other clinical skills and see how aspect of the Peruvian healthcare system works such as volunteering my time in a local clinic lab assisting in completing complete blood cell counts, and screening for infectious diseases.

I met a great number of healthcare professionals and future leaders who were in healthcare related programs who have traveled the world and demonstrated to me how volunteer work can make an impact on populations no matter where you are.

After my experience in Cusco I developed a love for combining my two passions of healthcare and travel, and plan to return to international volunteer work in the future. At this time I also spend time volunteering at home at many levels. Volunteer work does not always need to be clinical and impact can be made in many ways on the healthcare system by volunteering time from educating future clinicians, to participating in associations and organizations advocating for leading healthcare improvement.

In the table below I have outlined a number of volunteer activities I have taken part in over the past years as a healthcare provider. I am also active in a number of healthcare organizations advocating for nursing as a profession as well as my specialty, that of wound, ostomy and continence nursing. For more information about the organizations I am a member of or am actively involved in please visit my organizations page here.