Dominican Republic – What an experience! If you ask friends and family, you’ll see that many people have heard of Doctors Without Borders. However, many individuals have not heard of a Canadian organization, Terre Sans Frontieres (www.terresansfrontieres.ca), that organizes other health professionals, including chiropractors, to provide care in poverty stricken countries. Our group was lucky enough to be the fi rst at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) to go on a mission to the Dominican Republic with Terre Sans Frontieres – Chiropractors without Borders (CWB). Although there have been other chiropractic missions, what made this situation unique is that CMCC supported and helped send a collection of students (who had completed their clinical fourth year) and chiropractors (one clinician, one graduate student and one faculty member) to volunteer at two different locations in Santo Domingo. On April 18, 2009, at 4 a.m., eight interns and three clinicians from CMCC met at Pearson International Airport to embark on a journey that would impact our lives forever. A VENTURE INTO THE UNKNOWN As we were the fi rst group from CMCC to participate in a CWB mission, there were a lot of unknowns for us – there were questions regarding our transportation, our lodging, our chaperone and our sponsor that could not be completely answered prior to leaving. In addition, although the students had been in the same class for four years, they were not a part of one another’s social groups, and did not really know one another. Also, with the exception of a few students being assigned to one clinician’s pod for part of their clinical year, the students did not know the chiropractors who were being sent down to act as their clinicians – this made putting forth questions or concerns harder for them. However, all of these concerns were quickly put to rest when we arrived in Santa Domingo. Our chaperone, Miguel Callaci from Terre Sans Frontieres and Dr. Lopez, our sponsor – and his entire family – welcomed us with open arms and eased any concerns that we may have had. After this there was one certainty – this was going to be an experience we would not forget! THE CLINICAL EXPERIENCE Our time in the Dominican was well spent! We worked at a school in a small town called Villa Milla and a community health centre in Santo Domingo. We treated everyone who made the trip to our locations, from babies to individuals who “stopped counting their birthdays once they reached 100.” In the end we saw more than 1,200 patients. As within any practice, we saw patients with low back pain, neck pain, headaches and upper thoracic pain. Yet we also encountered a number of unusual cases such as the seven- or eightyear- old student who dislocated his radial head fooling around in class that morning, the patient who dislocated his humeral head 15 years prior and had never had it reduced – whose only complaint was upper back pain – and the woman who limped in with a visible fracture of her tibia, but was turned away at the hospital as the doctor told her it was not fractured. Then, there was the young fellow who was exhibiting symptoms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and was sent to the hospital for further evaluation. What was most apparent, from this mission, was that nothing we saw was beyond the realm of our education and training. The training at CMCC is second to none, and, therefore, our group was well equipped to treat, refer out when necessary, and provide simple rehab exercises and/or education to each patient. THE FRIENDSHIP EXPERIENCE However, the trip was not all work and that is what made it so special. Every morning, prior to going to the clinic, we all worked out, whether it was a morning run, a yoga class by the water or a circuit class. We were also lucky enough to have our translators, Jenny and Nelson, turn into tour guides at the end of the day and give us a true Dominican experience. They were able to show us the local fl avour, including the city centre and all its history, great Dominican restaurants, the local bars – while teaching us the latest salsa steps – and the best buys at the local markets. In addition, Dr. Lopez and his family opened up their home to us and provided us with great hospitality, great food and fantastic company. The Lopez family told us that any time any of us wanted to come back, they would love to have us! THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE With each passing day, everyone was more and more excited about the experience they were having. For the students, it was truly a great kick-start to their careers! It was as if they were starting their own practices. Gone were the days of getting “permission to treat” or “presenting the case” or determining which learning objective they needed to look up. In a sense, they were, now, practising chiropractors. For all of us, students and seasoned clinicians, we had gone to a country where the people have very little understanding of chiropractic, and therefore no biases, and we were able to see fi rst-hand the infl uence of our treatment. In many cases, people told us that they did not wake up with a headache today (as they had every day for the last five years) or that they had better range of motion in their neck than they had had in 12 years. The appreciation, from these patients, is something we will not forget. Many patients blessed us, wrote us notes of thanks or gave us a small token of appreciation. They wanted to let us know that we were important in their lives and that our touch made a difference. This trip was a chance to give back, to help many and to Educate others. As a group, we need to thank a number of people who made this mission possible: Dr. Jean Moss (President, CMCC) , Lenore Edmunds (Dean of Undergraduate Department), Amandip Gill (Assistant to the Dean), Miguel (TSF), Dr. Christian, Dr. Ramon Lopez (DR) and our families. Should you have any questions regarding the mission please contact myself at cweis@cmcc.ca. If you would like information about future missions, contact TSF at www.terresansfrontieres.ca.