My name is Dana Emo and I am a senior here at the University of Oregon. Last summer, I went on the global health and development program in Accra, Ghana. While in Ghana, I took 3 classes and interned at a hospital where I had the opportunity to shadow nurses, doctors, midwives, and a physician assistant. I studied the effects of colonization on Ghanaian healthcare, stigmas surrounding mental health, rural access to health care, and the role sanitation practices play in the spread of diseases.
One of the biggest takeaways from my time in Ghana was being able to observe the differences and similarities between the health care systems in both the United States and Ghana. In combination with observing widespread poverty, the effects of pollution, sewage, and a lack of sanitary bathrooms, it was fascinating to learn about the social determinants which often increased the population’s chances for diseases and health issues.
Learning about and observing the impacts of poverty and limited access to clean and safe resources on people’s health and general well being, has motivated me to keep learning about global public health. Ghana impacted me by making me more passionate about global health and has inspired me to learn about healthcare systems around the world as well as wonder what I can do as an individual to improve health care and public health in my own community.
While the career I hope to get into isn’t directly related to global health, I believe having this experience and being apart of the Students for Global Health club has given me a better comprehensive understanding of the healthcare systems throughout the world, including the strengths and problems that exist within them. From this experience, I plan to continue focusing specifically on rural areas that traditionally have less access to healthcare.