Our speaker today was Arianna Anton, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing & Health Sciences.

Nursing Global Health Connection Trip

Arianna stated her objective today was to:
Provide us some background information about international service opportunities for nursing students at Colby-Sawyer College,
Describe trips that have happened over the past few years, and
Talk about an upcoming trip in 2024.
The rigors of a nursing program limit students ability to do an international experience unless the decide to do it on college breaks. Ariana has been organizing international trips for nursing students since 2016. The trips were stopped during Covid, but started again with a trip to Morocco.

 

The trips are considered service trips. The students are engaged in healthcare experiences that are requested by the community they are visiting. They are not there long enough to make major changes in care delivery, but they work to augment what is already in place. The goal isn’t to fix, but to observe, think and learn by doing. She hopes to provide cultural immersion experiences and she works to place students with local families rather than being in “hotel-type” setting.

Her first trip with students was in 2016. They went to Mexico. The students provided service in free clinics; they did door-to-door assessments in the community; provided health education; and had some time for sightseeing and fun.

In 2018, Arianna led her first trip as the leader of the team or 25 students. They traveled to Costa Rica. They were stationed at a daycare center. There they did wellness checks and had an opportunity to engage in play with the children. They partnered with a local physician to learn about what they could do to help the community. In addition to working with the community, they had time to explore the region and see local sites such as churches, a volcano and hot springs. They learned about the indigenous people, their traditions, their activities (spear throwing, music, steam treatments, dress and significance of hair coloring) and their health practices.

Again home stays were an important part of this trip. She described how almost everyone in the group was willing to try new foods such as guinea pig.

Morocco was the trip that happen this past school year. It included 16 students, with Arianna.

The went to Rabat and Marrakesh. In both places they stayed with local families. They met with local college students to work on language skills (Modern Standard Arabic and Standard Moroccan Berber and English). She encouraged the students to spend time observing the culture from any perspective that they wanted. Some focused on family structure, others on sports, other on food, etc.

They learned how to make traditional mint tea. The rode camels. They tried other traditional food, and had opportunities to dance in traditional dress. They were able to bring back persian souvenirs gifts

Arianna’s presentation about both Costa Rica and Morocco were augmented by a video that showed the students at “work” and at “play”. The videos showed us the type of healthcare supplies and equipment they took with them to help the community.

In 2025, the trip will be to Cusco Peru.

Arianna Anton Short Bio
Arianna Anton is an Undergraduate Traditional Nursing Program Coordinator at Colby-Sawyer College where she teaches the Nursing Leadership Capstone Course to senior nursing students, coordinated clinical experiences, and facilitates clinical simulation experiences in the lab space. With 10 years of teaching experience, Arianna also holds a Nurse Educator position at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. She is pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, underscoring her commitment to advancing nursing education and practice. She is passionate about culturally congruent care, and leads annual international Global Health Connections trips with nursing students. In addition to professional pursuits, Arianna enjoys hiking, reading and traveling with her family. She resides in rural Vermont with her husband and two daughters. She is always working to find balance and inspiration from natural beauty and tranquility in the Green Mountains.