Oh Mai, It’s The End

PURA VIDA! WE MADE IT! The final week in Costa Rica!!

Our 2nd to last weekend was a very special one because we spent it in Guanacaste! We could not have picked a more perfect weekend because Monday was Guanacaste Annexation day so we booked a hotel in Brasillito and visited Playa Brasillito and Playa Conchal (yes, the shells hurt our feet). We took a 5.5-hour bus early Sunday morning and an 8-hour bus ride back on Monday! So we spent about 13ish hours on a bus to get 24 hours on a beach? Yes, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Playa Conchal was absolutely beautiful with its white sandy beaches and super clear water. I am sure you have heard that beach description a million times now, but Playa Conchal fits it so perfectly. This beach was a little bit crowdier than the rest but was fun nonetheless! The sunsets and the pictures were surreal. Of course, the place was quite touristy so the food was a bit pricey according to Costa Rican standards and was presented to us in dollars. We still had some delicious pizza and mojitos though. Check out the last of the beach pictures below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our 4-day work week was a little relaxing since it was the last week. We traced back our roots by staying in San Jose and visiting Hospital Mexico for most of the week! Hospital Mexico was where it all started, our first day with Pablo, Jairy, and Raquel working on Incubators. We came a full circle. Although we did not work on incubators, we did work on a wide variety of machines that we learned about throughout our internships such as ECG machines, fetal monitors, anesthesia machines, and of course smart beds. One of the days, upon our request, Katy and I got to visit the children’s hospital in San Jose. It is one of the most well-funded hospitals, not just from seguro social but also from donations and fundraisers. It is also one of the bigger hospitals and is kept well-staffed and maintained. Pedro (field engineer) gave us a full tour of the place! After our very last lunch at Apatocario that day, we squeezed in another hospital to our long list of hospitals we have visited: San Vincent de Paul Hospital. No new machines here, just corrective maintenance on anesthesia machines.

Our last day at Meditek was a very memorable one. For one, Katy and I did Meditek a HUGE favor by printing pictures of ourselves out, and putting those pictures up on the heart wall that Meditek has. Of course, previous employees who no longer work here were sacrificed, and our pictures replaced theirs. Now Meditek can never forget even if they want to. The rest of the day, we pretty much spent at Hospital Mexico reminiscing our days at this company with our fellow employees. After the workday was over, Pablo and the rest of Meditek sponsored Katy and me a little goodbye dinner at Republica! We got to officially say Goodbye to everyone and thank them for their kindness and helpfulness these past two months! This experience would not have been the same if it wasn’t for everyone at Meditek, I could not have asked for a better group of coworkers who were so open and welcoming!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On my final weekend in Costa Rica, we spent time going to the crafts market (again full circle because we visited the market on day 1) and buying souvenirs. I bought some magnets, keychains, and a Costa Rican jersey which was my proudest buy because I managed to bargain the price down instead of up this time! We have made quite a bit of progress I would say. After the crafts market, we spent one last night at Lolita eating french fries and drinking sangrias while talking about the best of our memories from our time in this beautiful country. Monday, early morning was our flight back which was nice and smooth. Thankfully there were no crashes.

In total, I visited over 22 ebais, clinics, and hospitals, worked on over 9 different types of machines, visited about 24 cities, stayed at 12 hotels, hiked 4 places, visited 7 beaches, and ate at countless restaurants all in 9 weeks! Of course, I also met so many people that I will remember for a lifetime. The trip to Costa Rica and working that internship was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I learned so much about the Costa Rican healthcare system and got a different perspective on global healthcare that I would have never gotten from working an internship in the United States. I learned about their healthcare priorities and how to creatively engineer solutions to meet those priorities. For example, they cared a lot about hygiene and that might have stemmed from the COVID pandemic. We could see that from the hand wash stations outside every hospital, market, museum, and restaurant, the person spraying us with alcohol outside every building, and the non-touch (non-electronic) hand-sanitizer system they engineered (picture on the left). I also learned about some common issues they face such as long wait times in the public healthcare system even if it is free, the lack of communication & coordination between hospitals and engineers, the unsecured seguro social software system that was recently hacked resulting in stolen patient data, and the lack of patient privacy. From an engineering perspective, I learned a lot about the ins and outs of specific machines such as the circular system of the anesthesia machine, the importance of a stimulator, and the working of a Holter monitor. Outside of healthcare, I learned and appreciated their culture, their people, their food, their streets, their art, and of course automercado.

I reflect back on my time in Costa Rica and wonder how I will apply my gained knowledge in the upcoming year and throughout my lifetime. With the end of this amazing trip comes the beginning of the rest of the global medical innovation program, and I cannot wait to apply this experience to my upcoming projects in healthcare. I write this blog post from the comfort of my home, and I have about a week more to relax and unwind before I meet the rest of the cohort again and get grinding for the rest of the year.

Feeling a bit bittersweet about ending the blog posts, but I hope these posts encourage anyone reading them to visit Costa Rica and experience this amazing country!

Now excuse me while I eat some home-cooked meals, go drive a car, and finally not throw used toilet paper in the trash.

Pura Vida my friends,

Jhalak M.