The Global Health Academic Concentration
Follow UC San Diego School of Medicine's GHAC students around the world.
On my first morning in Quito, I stepped onto the third-story balcony of my host family’s home and was met with a quiet, beautiful surprise—a bright rainbow stretching across the misty sky. I had arrived the day before on a red-eye flight and, still adjusting to the altitude, had gone straight to bed. Waking up … Continue reading Inside Ecuador’s Healthcare System: My Time at a Centro de Salud- Quito, Ecuador
What amazed me most when we first arrived in Quito was how close we were to the sky. At approximately 10,000ft above sea level, Quito is the second highest capital in the world, sitting among the clouds that float over the Andes. In the early mornings, a thick layer of clouds would roll over the … Continue reading From Quito to the Amazon: An Unforgettable Adventure
My GHAC summer research in Ecuador as part of the ESPINA project was an incredible professional, academic and personal experience! I began working with Dr. Suarez during the school year to help with a project related to pesticide exposure and inflammatory biomarkers as part of the ESPINA project. My interest in Dr. Suarez’s research was … Continue reading Exploring Quito: Culture and Science in Summer Research
One of the best things about having a summer birthday is that I always am surprised by where the next year takes me. This year, I got to spend my 25th birthday in Ecuador, making it one of my best yet. To have a day I would remember for a lifetime, I decided to hike … Continue reading Hiking Volcán Cotopaxi: My 25th Birthday Experience
Hello from Bogotá! I am writing this blog post on my way back home from an incredible summer in Ecuador during my 7-hour layover in Colombia. I came to Ecuador with GHAC to work on the ESPINA project (Exposición Secundaria a Plagucidias en Niños y Adolescentes). This project is under the direction of Dr. José … Continue reading Exploring Health Impacts of Pesticides in Ecuador
It was early and the sun was still low when I started picking alpaquinoa. The thick-stalked plants are usually treated as weeds, but the leaves make a delicious addition to salads. Luis, the farm manager, instructed me to pluck off the leaves one by one so they could be put into bags and included in … Continue reading The Cinca Farm in the Ecuadorian Highlands
Hola! This will be my first time fully explaining what I’ve been researching here in Quito in English. I’ve become accustomed to giving brief synopses of my work to my host family, new friends I meet, cab drivers, store owners, etc. in Spanish and actually, my research has been conducted 100% in Spanish as well. … Continue reading Research in Quito
Part 1: La Selva Amazonica I last signed off before taking a trip to La Selva Amazonica (Amazonian Jungle) with my Child Family Health International (CFHI) friends. One of our two guides is a Spanish teacher for the CFHI program and invited me to join the group on this journey to the Amazonian jungle. We … Continue reading Las Aventuras al Aire Libre (I promise I am here to do research too…)
I have officially been in Ecuador for 1 week and 1 day! It has been quite the adventure thus far. I arrived after midnight and thus stayed in a hotel in Quito my first night. I met my coworkers and host family the next day. I could not be any luckier; my host family is … Continue reading Las primeras Aventuras en Ecuador de Li-Li
On Friday, the group, ESPINA, for which I have been working completed its data gathering portion of the study as they seek to determine the effects of secondary exposure to pesticides in children. In total, we collected data in 5 different cities within the county of Pedro Moncayo and over 400 hundred children were included … Continue reading Coming to a close