PITT HOME |FIND PEOPLE

Taylor Curtis

Bio Summary
Cohort Year: 
2016
Home Institution: 
Carlow University
Heinz Programming Area: 
Children, youth, and Families
Study Abroad Country: 
Costa Rica
International Experience

Taylor Curtis went to Costa Rica for five weeks where she took a Spanish healthcare class and studied tropical disease and medicine. While she did not get any hands on experience, she did learn how to help and treat patients with many different tropical diseases, such as dengue, zika, and malaria. She also had the opportunity to visit the largest private hospital in San Jose, Hospital Clinica Biblica. Here she was able to observe the different floors, including maternity, ICU and inpatient services. This experience was one of her favorites because she was able to see the differences between layout of the hospital and the way the staff worked compared to US American hospitals. She was also able to take a day trip to a dairy farm where she was able to give an exam to a cow; she also took a trip to a venomous snake institution. Her Spanish class taught her about the language and allowed her to communicate better with natives, including her host family. She tried to take opportunities to immerse herself in the culture of Costa Rica in many ways. She tried many different foods, some that she loved and some that were different and interesting. Taylor attended different Latin dance classes and visited many of the museums in the city. She also had the opportunity to travel to a nursing home to talk to many women about their lives. She traveled to different parts of Costa Rica on the weekends where she noticed the differences in the local traditions. She was also able to see how beautiful the Pacific side of the country is including many rainforests. In addition to classes, Taylor volunteered to teach students English. She was placed in a beginner class where she had four students. This experience was fun for Taylor because the students were so excited and had many different questions about the language that made her think deeply about what her native language meant. Overall, Taylor’s time in Costa Rica gave her opportunities to not only allow her to meet goals for her career, but also for herself and the students that she taught. 

Community Engagement Experience
CEE Title: 
Approaching Ethical Dilemmas with a Global Perspective

The CEE consisted of 4 different parts: introduction, presentation, round tables, and conclusion. In the introduction phase, the members stood outside of the room and asked passing students to complete a survey by placing four stickers on what they believed to be culture. Some of the options that were available to choose from were: race, religion, political view, socioeconomic status, education level, and ethnicity. Once surveys were completed, the next phast, presentation, began. During presentation, each Carlow cohort member talked about the meaning of culture and cultural competence. Following this presentation, there were round table discussions. Each round table was assigned a case study which presented different ethical dilemmas. To close, a recap of the event was discussed.

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