From Student Nurse To Global Healer

A young nurse fits an elder with her first pair of glasses, and everything changes—her patient’s world, and her own career path. That moment in a Guatemala clinic becomes the springboard for a wide-ranging conversation with Aubrey Hetland, BSN RN, PCCN, now pursuing her DNP-FNP, about why experience before grad school protects patients, how cultural humility improves outcomes, and what it takes to communicate clearly across language and culture.

We trace Aubrey’s journey from cardiac step-down to oncology, through national certification and two Daisy Awards, and into global service learning that reframed her goals around preventive care. She breaks down what nurse practitioners actually do, how state practice authority shapes access, and why application beats memorization when the stakes involve real people and real risks. The clinic days come alive—morning briefings, triage, translators at the table, and nightly reflections that turned emotion into insight and teamwork into safer practice.

Aubrey also opens the door on her new project: a training module that prepares students and clinicians to work effectively with medical interpreters. We discuss the triadic relationship, legal protections for limited English proficient patients, and the pitfalls of using family members or children for sensitive conversations. The result is a compelling case for language access as patient safety, not a courtesy. Along the way, you’ll hear practical advice for students on the fence about global health trips, plus reading and podcast recommendations that deepen cultural humility and clinical judgment.

If you care about prevention, equitable access, and becoming the kind of clinician who truly meets people where they are, this story will stick. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review to help more listeners find conversations that move medicine forward.

Recommended Books:

1. The Spirit Catches You & You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman
2. Everything is Tuberculosis - John Green

Recommended Podcast:

1. The Checkup With Dr. Mike

I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations. 

As a 50+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened.

Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Well hey there, I'm Dr. Patrick Hickey, or Dr. H, as many of my students refer to me. I want to welcome you to another episode of the International Service Learning Experiential Medical Education Podcast. During each episode, I will be interviewing healthcare-focused students and faculty from high school to university that have had an opportunity to participate in an international service learning trip. Additionally, I will be discussing the benefits and challenges to international service with healthcare professionals that have served abroad, as well as industry leaders in healthcare, education, study abroad, spirituality, and those living in the countries being served. Today I am very excited to have Aubrey Hetland, BSN RN, PCCN, as my guest. I've had the privilege of having Aubrey as a former student and I'm eager for her to share with us her journey in healthcare. Aubrey graduated in 2023 from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. And after a few years of clinic work, she's now pursuing her family nurse practitioner and doctorate of nursing practice degrees at the University of Washington in Seattle. Well, in her undergraduate time at the University of South Carolina, Aubrey went on two service learning trips to Guatemala. Well, hey, Aubrey, this is Dr. H, and very excited to have you as our guest today. Full disclosure, Aubrey is a former student of mine, and we've traveled uh before on an international uh service learning trip. I have the privilege of having Aubrey's uh resume uh beforehand. So I'm I'm up to date on where she's at and what she's doing. It's been a few years since we've connected. But to start off, Aubrey, uh just um tell our those listening who you are and where you're from.

What Nurse Practitioners Do

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Yeah, hi, I'm Aubrey Hetland. I'm a 24-year-old nurse practitioner student, graduate of University of South Carolina, graduate of Dr. Hickey's class. I live in Seattle, Washington right now, pursuing my doctorate. I'm in my second year. I just started that a few weeks ago and currently working as an oncology nurse as well in at a UW facility, but I also worked at Duke and in cardiac for a while.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

So Aubrey, you mentioned you're a nurse practitioner student. What is a nurse practitioner?

SPEAKER_01 2:37

A nurse practitioner is a type of provider. Some may say a mid-level provider. That's kind of a term that's not being used as much anymore. But nurse practitioners are a type of provider that can diagnose and prescribe and assess and in different states hold different authority when it comes to owning a practice or practicing under a physician like an MD. So as a nurse practitioner student, as part of a doctoral program, I'm I'm not only learning how to assess, diagnose, and prescribe, but I'm also learning things like quality improvement and how to be a part of projects in a leadership type of position, maybe for hospital administration, maybe for a company, maybe as a health consultant. So it's it's a very diverse degree and also a very diverse career.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Could a patient have a nurse practitioner as their health care provider, or do they need to have a doctor?

SPEAKER_01 3:35

They can have a nurse practitioner as their provider, and they probably have and didn't even know. Most of my primary care providers have been nurse practitioners ever since growing up. My pediatrician, my my urgent care providers that I've seen. So they have the authority to probably do what people think a doctor does, and doctors can do that as well, and and different things too. But yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

You graduated in 22, I believe, from the University of South Carolina with your your BSN, your your forward degree in nursing. How did you make the decision to go back to school to work on your on your D ⁇ P and your nurse practitioner position?

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Yeah. Well, during my my schooling at the University of South Carolina, I first of all figured out I wanted to be a nurse. And then later, when I when I went on a global health trip, I went as an alum. And that was my junior year of college, I believe. And that's when I figured out I wanted to be more of in a in a provider responsible role. So I I always had that in the back of my mind, but I wanted to get some experience on the floor first as a nurse in a hospital setting. So after working for almost two years, I had moved out here and started working in oncology while pursuing the first year of my doctorate. But that was a very, very, I wouldn't say difficult road, but it was a steep learning curve when you come out of nursing school to become a new grad nurse, but then also decide to go back to school. But I think just down deep, I had that passion to become a provider and step into that responsibility. And so I started looking at schools probably a year into being a new grad nurse, and talked to some professors like yourself and some professors from South Carolina about what their perspective was on going back to school. And then I made the decision to apply to a couple places, and then lo and behold, I've been very grateful to be able to go.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Well, I appreciate you sharing the thought process behind when you went back to school, because as a nursing professor, we normally always recommend that we we always want you to pursue higher education because we equate higher education, saving more lives and in healthcare. But we also say as a nurse, once you get out of your undergrad, we highly recommend that you at least work for a year or two on the floor, so to speak, to gain experience. But we do see a large number going straight from undergraduate into master's or doctoral programs. You I believe have just shared that you believe it's it's most important to get some experience first before going back for your graduate degree. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Yeah, I believe so. I think whenever I first graduated as a new grad, I was already in the mindset of wanting to go back to school. And so I was one of those people that was like, well, why can't I just go back to school right after my undergrad? Because I'll have this fresh information in my mind. But really, what's important is keeping people safe. And also, grad school is not just about memorization and knowing things, it's about application. And one of the biggest things you can do for yourself is give yourself clinical experience as a new grad, learn how to time manage, learn how to juggle these different roles as a nurse, as a someone just out of college is a big one too. And you need to find yourself before you go into some other identity role to take care of other people, because it's about being safe. And and one of the fastest ways that I think my schooling in my graduate program has applied to has applied that knowledge into my brain is through the clinical application that I can associate with it.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Now, Aubrey, I see behind your name that you've got some letters PCCN. So in your attempt to gain higher education, it appears that you've also acquired a national certification. Do you want to explain what the PCCN stands for?

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Yeah, PCCN stands for progressive care certified nurse. And it's a similar certification, maybe a similar process that you can compare to getting your RN, where you have to take an exam to get those letters behind your name. So the BSN is my degree. The RN is the registered nurse certification that I have after taking the national NCLEX board exams after school, after graduating undergrad. The work that I was putting in as a new grad nurse was also applying in my brain, and I was critically thinking. And it's a very similar certification for critical care nurses who are in the ICU. I just was on a step-down cardiac unit, Duke University. And so they were able to help pay for that exam and help me study and provide classes that I was able to take on top of working. I was just, I was just interested in doing it. Some people don't do that. It can also give you a little bit of a boost on your on your paycheck and resume, but it was more about for me understanding what I was doing on a deeper level each day at work.

Certifications And Daisy Award

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Well, I I applaud you for seeking your national certification. I'm a former CEN certified emergency nurse where I had to work at least two years in a critical environment before taking a national exam. I let that expire when I left the emergency room setting, and then I became a CCR, C N O R certified nurse of the operating room, which I'm now have emeritus status. But yes, it does show to your patient population that you've gone the extra mile, you know a little bit more about what you're doing. And and it does take a lot of extra effort, time on your on your side. So I do applaud you on the pursuing that certification. One more thing before you go on from your resume, tell our listeners what the Daisy Award is, because I see that you're a Daisy Award recipient.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

I am a Daisy Award recipient, two-time, two-time Daisy Award recipient, which I'm very grateful for. That is also a nationally reviewed, not certification, but award that is given out to nurses and decided through a board that gets submissions from different people around the country, like different hospitals. It could be a patient that says that you're a great nurse and really wants to recognize you. So they write in a little note to the board, or it could be another nurse that nominates you, or your provider you're working with, or something like that. And then it goes under review, and then you get a little nice daisy pin on your badge that just kind of is a recognition of why we keep doing what we're doing, is to make people feel like they're heard and they're being taken care of. And we get recognition of that every time, I think every time you take care of a patient in one way or another, but this is a more formal way.

Why Guatemala: First Trip Origins

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Well, for those listening, the Daisy Award is a huge accomplishment and a great award. I've nominated many a nurse colleague for the Daisy Award. And to see that you've been nominated and recipient of a twice, that's huge. I mean, congratulations. Yeah, you're a great patient advocate. Let's talk a little bit about service. Uh, we've talked about your nursing career. Uh, you know, while you were at the University of South Carolina, you went on two service learning trips, one in March of 2020, and then I believe March of 2022. What prompted you to go on that first trip?

SPEAKER_01 11:22

So it's actually a funny story. I was at the University of South Carolina's admitted students' day, which I was not committed to the University of South Carolina, but it was an opportunity for me to go and check out the campus, check out a couple different buildings and maybe professors. And you were one of the professors that actually I went to a capstone conference with, and I was with my dad, and you mentioned that if students loved Spanish and if students loved healthcare, then here's the deal for you. We've got a great class and a great trip and an opportunity that you can take advantage of while in school. And I turned to my dad and I was like, I'm gonna make this guy my best friend. And I was like, I am so interested in Spanish, and I had a little bit of an interest in global health, and because I was already a pre-nursing decided major, that's kind of honestly what made me go to South Carolina. So that was even before I went to South Carolina, let alone when I um was able to actually go to school there. And then I think I met you through some capstone kind of social events. And one of the most important things I would say is show your face many a times to people that you care to know, because 90% of it is showing up. And that's what my parents always told me.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

So well, uh uh, and you did it, you listened to your parents, and and you were assertive in a good way. And and thanks so much for sharing that story, you know, as faculty. Sometimes we don't hear those stories and we don't know the connections and and and and how we've been able to make a difference in someone's life. And isn't it amazing, you know, as I go through these podcast interviews, how it could be one person, one incident, one situation, a passionate person that changes your direction in life. And here you are, and here we are. So, and and again, I appreciate what you said. You know, be assertive, show up, be present, take advantage of opportunities because people aren't going to come to you with them, you know, if you're there and they're available. Of course, it's kind of like I tell my students all the time apply, apply, apply for scholarships, you know, apply for as many as you can, because no one's gonna come to you and say, hey, I've got a scholarship. You you need to be applying, putting yourself out there. And you're doing it right now, you're putting yourself out there. You're you're working, you're going to school, you're trying to socialize, and it does take you out of your comfort zone, so to speak, to do it. But by doing what you're doing, you're putting yourself in a better position where the future patients that you're going to be caring for are going to be in a much better position and have probably better positive outcomes because of all the training and experience that you have. So you went in 2020 on that trip. I'm I'm glad you listened to me and and and joined our cohort. Tell us about a typical day. I I know it's a few years ago, but can you tell us about a typical day and and was there anything that stood out on that on that March 2020?

A Day In Clinic And Early COVID Shock

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Yeah, of course. So March 2020, if we can think about what the world was like back then. This was right before COVID, like days before days before we had to shut down. And it kind of felt like a fever dream for a little bit because we were in Guatemala getting to know these people and patients, and then we were hit with kind of this global uh-oh, pandemic, what are we gonna do? So trying to remember back on it, I remember it was super fun. It was not only fun, but it was really reflective. So, one of the biggest things that I took away from that trip was taking down notes throughout the day, questions. We had these journals that you guys encouraged us to take notes on, and and just writing a diary entry at the end of the day. So, in those diary entries, I would write about how we would get up in the morning. I remember our hotel that we stayed in, we would have breakfast on this long table all together and just eating some of the more cultural foods down there that I wasn't used to as a suburban white American. And they're not even crazy foods. I was just eating like delicious fruit, and it was great. And then we would get up after that and get on the bus and we would go to the clinic for a few hours. And that first trip, I was part of a group of I think about I think in my clinic there were 30 of us, 30 nursing students with some leaders, and we were all in these different pods and different rooms, and there was someone who was taking vitals, someone who was taking notes, a translator, the patient, and then that first trip there was a doctor with us at each station. So we would take the patient's vitals, ask them questions with the interpreter's translation, and then kind of come up after our assessment with a plan, and then talk about it with the doctor, and then we would all present that to the patient. So I remember doing a couple of really impactful things down there in regards to very simple things in the United States, like giving someone glasses. I remember we gave this very elderly woman her first pair of glasses, and it was just life-changing, and it was just such a simple act for us Americans who take advantage of that sort of thing. But for them, it was like a huge opportunity, and they were very thankful. So then after a great day of doing that, we would go back to the hotel, or if we had extra time, go out into the little touristy parts of Pana Hell or go down to the lake, and then kind of have a reflection after dinner with our group or with one of the providers. And then we would go to bed and then do it all again.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

I appreciate bringing up reflection. We we tried to impress upon the students to journal because we felt, we being faculty and and leaders, felt that students at 18, 19, and 20 are a little uncomfortable sharing their emotions. And that's why we wanted to have you guys journal and then and then reflect in a group setting, because we felt it was important. You may have seen something one day that somebody else may have seen uh something quite different, but you didn't get to experience what they saw. So by by doing the reflection and then journaling, also, there's an opportunity there to share your emotions. And did you see a lot of that? I mean, sharing of emotions.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

I think so. Because we had taken the course, which is part of the trip at the University of South Carolina, because we took the eight-week course, we kind of had known each other through already doing some class assignments and assessments together. So I think we were more comfortable with working with each other and sharing and being open about things, as well as not just emotions, but things that we found interesting, things that we learned medically that we had no idea about because we're freshmen in college. So yeah, I remember it being very, very inviting.

Reflection, Journaling, And Emotional Learning

SPEAKER_00 18:34

You shared the story of that impactful opportunity where you helped a patient with eyeglasses. One of our students in the Capstone Scholars program started a student organization at the University of South Carolina, I believe it's called See the Difference, because her experience was she was giving medications to a patient and educating the patient on the medicines and gave them some discharge instructions. And she was interpreting that the patient could not understand the instructions, but in reality it was because they could not read because they didn't have eyeglasses. So that next year she came back, started the organization See the Difference, work with the Lions Eye Bank, and then supplied every future trip with hundreds and hundreds of eyeglasses. And that's how your patient got to benefit from that, because that patient of yours probably tried on a bunch of eyeglasses before they finally found one that worked for them, and now they could actually see and read again.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Exactly. Yeah, and that that kind of thing when it comes to patients not understanding discharge instructions, even if it's written in Spanish, and I'm putting my fingers in quotations, happens all the time, even in America, with non-global health patients. I remember working in the Southeast where there was a lot of health illiteracy and just illiteracy in general. And sometimes it'd be that, but then sometimes it'd be because they weren't able to see and they weren't able to properly tell us that because of shame or embarrassment, or they just didn't want to speak up about it. So that happens in a lot of places. I've seen that in my clinic practice a lot.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Now, Aubrey, I I I believe you speak Spanish. Should students be concerned if they don't speak Spanish if they're going on an international service learning trip in Latin America?

SPEAKER_01 20:31

No, you should not be concerned. And if anything, there was way more support than I ever thought there would be. I speak some Spanish, mostly in a medical sense that I'm still using in my practice today. But I was nervous to try to speak Spanish on that first trip. But the translators and the doctors who are from Guatemala, Nicaragua, they would encourage us to practice and learn. And even if we didn't speak Spanish, they would they would give us keywords that we could use to connect with the patient and key phrases. And so even though I did speak Spanish and I was able to connect in that way and I felt supported in that way, if I didn't, I would still feel probably just as much support, if not more.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

That's great to know. And and thank you for reminding me of of that time in 2020 when COVID was just starting. Uh, I do remember that we rushed to the airport, and the airport actually shut down the next day. If we hadn't gotten out that day, we would have been trapped in the country. So it it was a very uh frantic time. So you went in 2020, you went again in 2022. Tell us about that experience.

Eyeglasses, Health Literacy, And Access

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Yeah, 2022 was I was a junior, so I had just started taking my nursing classes, nursing specific classes, clinical classes. And I went in the spring of 2022 where I was technically a junior, but I was technically a senior because I was going to be graduating in December 2022. So by that point, I had some clinical experience in hospital settings and a little bit more knowledge about pathophysiology and everything like that. So I felt confident going down. I was part of a group of, I think it was seven or eight students in an alumni group. It was me and one other pre-nursing student. The rest were pre-PA, pre-med students. And we went down and we had one clinic to ourselves. Like I talked about previously, in a little bit more of a provider responsibility mindset where I was trying to come at it with that kind of in mind. And that was supported in the clinic setting. So we had a lot more autonomy as alumni students going on the trip where we were able to almost either run a table with a partner where it was just us and the translator and the patient, or I ran a table by myself because I was able to speak some Spanish and like just how the tables were set up.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Now I know it was a few years ago, but was there anything surprising that you encountered or anything challenging that you can recall on your trips, on the two trips? Any patient scenarios or clinical situations that that stood that stand out?

SPEAKER_01 23:16

I think one of the most impactful things that stood out to me was the importance of making a connection with the patient, which wasn't challenging, but it was different because I had never, I mean, Guatemala was the first country that I went to out of the United States. So it was my first time interacting with people from a foreign country living in that foreign country, let alone patients. So I think the most challenging thing for me was how can I connect with people that are living in a whole different lifestyle than I am, and not come across as I know better because I don't know better. And I still don't know better. So it's it's it's about being humble and meeting people where they're at. And you have to really learn that before you can practice good medicine, I think. Because if you come in thinking you know everything, you're actually the dumbest person in the room because these patients bring so much experience just from living in those countries. They they know way more about sometimes what's best for them than you do, but you're there to support them.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

Wow, you sound so wise in your young age. You've you've gained a lot of worldly experience. Uh, I appreciate that. What ways did this trip change your perspective on health care here in the United States? And did did this experience affect what you're doing right now? You know, the fact that you're in school right now and pursuing your your DNP. Was there anything related to this experience that that pushed you to this point in life?

Language Worries And Interpreter Support

Second Trip: More Autonomy In Care

SPEAKER_01 24:52

A million percent. I would not be here without both of those trips. I would not be the nurse I am, I would not be the person I am, I would not be the leader I am, I would not be the friend I am. Because going down to a different country where or anywhere where people live differently from you is going to make you learn something in one way or another, let alone about healthcare specifically. I think Western medicine is a very developed kind of health care. And that doesn't mean it's better. I think that the impact that community clinics make on different places in rural America and different places like rural Guatemala or Nicaragua or Costa Rica or anything, that is where you can impact people preventatively and at the most basic human level. And how you can make them feel like I'm here to take care of you, not that I'm part of this huge system that's kind of intimidating. So clinic settings, community clinic settings, global health community settings, I think those are the foundation and were the foundation of initially healthcare in general. If you look at the history of healthcare in America, for example, where was childbirth before it was in the hospital? It was in the homes, it was with midwives, it was with African American midwives who knew way more about childbirth and treating the mother the way that they do as a person, you know, as well as the baby as a person. It just, we don't know everything in the best ways in Western medicine. And I think we're leaving out a lot. So going on a global health experience opens your eyes to doing things differently and also what are we doing here in the United States that that is working and what's not working? So that kind of led me to want to be in more of a preventative mindset as a provider. So that's why I'm getting my DNP as a family nurse practitioner, because I feel like I can make the most difference with people preventatively. And if not, I can refer to them to somebody else that can help them as a specialist. But I decided to get my FNP because it's a little bit more broad. And then I, if I wanted to specialize in something like cardiology, for example, I could. But I want to start with that basic understanding and preventative medicine and impact on patients. And I'm also getting a global health certificate through the University of Washington as part of my interest in global health. And that's just taking a few classes. One was on implementation science last quarter, and then I'm taking a global health nursing course this quarter as well. And then I have to do a project, which I'm hoping to actually take an ISL project and adapt it to that capstone experience. But yeah, I would say it has driven everything that I've done as a provider. Most of our country is diverse and it is global health. The other day on my oncology floor, I had, I think it was at least five patients who did not speak any English. That is on a that's on a floor with 20 people total.

SPEAKER_00 28:10

Abi, that's a good segue into your project that you're working with ISL on. Why don't you go ahead and share with with the listeners because it all connects?

Cultural Humility And Patient Connection

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Yeah. So I came to Dr. Hickey last year when I was pursuing this global health certificate, and I asked him if I could be involved in a project at ISL and kind of spearhead something that was needed to be refined. And I didn't know what that was. So I came to him and asked him, like, what needs to be worked on. And he mentioned that nursing students in our education as undergraduates and on the trip, even, you don't really get much education in how to use an interpreter, what the importance of the interpreter actually means in a clinical setting, what is the setup and how can the interpreter be part of the relationship with you and the patient? So those things are are kind of assumed when you go down there, but then in practice, it's a little bit difficult, especially as a freshman, when you don't even know how to take vitals, how to use an interpreter and respect them as another person on your team. So basically, we came up with an idea where Dr. Hickey, I, Dr. Sonia, who's from Costa Rica, and Jonathan, we all have contributed towards making a script that basically highlights the need for an educated piece in the ISL training to present to the nursing students before they go down to the countries, where it where it basically highlights okay, this is the interpreter, this is why they're an important component of your team, this is why they can culturally add a lot of information to your interview with the patient and make the patient feel comfortable. And then this is how you incorporate that into your practice in the clinic setting. So taking all those pieces into the script, we developed These situations in which an interpreter is really crucial. Medication compliance and going over the medications that the patient's taking at home already and what they're going to need to take. Different, really important conversations that are sensitive. We don't want people from the family interpreting that for the patient. We don't want a 10-year-old interpreting that for his mother. Those can just be traumatic conversations where a third party, like an interpreter, is really important. So taking these situations, we're going to make a video, which I'm planning on filming next weekend actually, and show these situations how they play out and what to do. And then that video will be presented to the nursing students going on ISL trips. And hopefully we can develop it into something maybe that deals with nursing curriculum in general, because you use interpreters, I use interpreters all the time in medicine. And it's a really underdeveloped area of the importance of understanding the patient's experience and providing safe care.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

I'm so excited for what you're doing, Aubrey. And when Aubrey came to me, I said, why don't you just kind of continue what I did in my research, which was looking at limited English proficient patients and the triadic relationship, which is the interpreter process. And as Aubrey shared, we're we're so we're so ill-prepared with how to deal with somebody with limited English proficiency. And there are actually laws that protect those patients and state that those patients should have an interpreters. So what Aubrey is developing, this module she's developing, is something that's going to be available to every future student that goes on an ISL trip. Every one of those students then are going to be ambassadors for people that have limited English proficiency. And as Aubrey said, this is something bigger than we know right now. I believe it's it should be part of nursing curriculums, healthcare curriculums around the United States, where everybody is well prepared and respects the interpreter as being part of the team. So it's huge, uh, this project that you're working on, and it's going to affect so many people. It's going to affect so many patients. Yeah, thank you. Well, so many patients that you're not never going to meet. This goes back to what you said in the beginning. Show up, be assertive, you know, be there. And you're the one that approached me and asked, you know, what can I do? How can I help? How can I pay it forward? And that's one of my hickeisms that I use quite a lot with my students. And you've mentioned it once earlier. One last thing, Aubrey, you know, we could go on forever. I love reconnecting, but what would your advice be for students considering a trip? They may be intimidated by language or culture or the cost, or in your case, flying for the first time. What would you say to those people that are kind of on the fence with whether or not should I go on the trip? Is it going to help me? Should I do it because it's just going to look good on my resume, or is it actually going to help to confirm this is what I want to do in my future as a career?

Preventive Care And Choosing The FNP Path

SPEAKER_01 33:06

I would say, I would say two things. One thing that someone actually told me the other day, one of my professors at school is you are blessed to be in a situation where this is available to you to do. So go do it because this is not available to everybody. This is not available to most of the country, most college students, most nursing students. If it's right there in front of you and you even have a little bit of a fire for it, that's that's something calling you there. So that would be my first piece of advice. My second piece of advice would be something that I've kind of used in my life and my practice in general is seeking discomfort. This is this is in every situation in life, but especially when it comes to career, you're gonna be intimidated, you're gonna be uncomfortable. Take it by its horns and and put yourself out there and and in control of it a little bit. Because you can you can go and and skate by in life, but that discomfort's gonna find come find you and bite you in the butt 10 times more, or you can seek it out and you can say, you know what, I know that this is gonna be uncomfortable. I'm I have no idea what's gonna happen when I'm in this foreign country or taking this class or talking to this professor who I don't know. And you can you can rationalize those things in your head, but at the same time, you're still thinking about it. And if you're still thinking about it, that means that you should go.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

Well, I appreciate that validation of why it's so important. And and you kind of echo what I've uh shared a few times before, where I I've often shared with students, I feel like I'm a glorified door opener. I want to open a door of opportunity for you. And I encourage you to step through the door, at least step through the door, at least see what's on the other side. If you like it, great. Go go down, enter the room, go down that road. If if you don't like what you see or what you do, then at least you've tried it. But as you say, if you don't open yourself to these opportunities, you're limiting the opportunities that you have further down the road in life. And I mean, we could easily connect the dots, I believe, with with your experience. You know, this trip led to what you're doing now in school. I mean, obviously you have a service heart that you wanted to continue to do what you're doing because it was expensive to do, took you out of your comfort zone. But here you are now working on your DP, you're getting a global health certificate, which further shows your your interest and passion to help underserve populations. And we think that's just great. Well, any last words, uh Aubrey before we uh sign off.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

First, I kind of want to give a couple book recommendations. Yeah, let's tell that.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

We haven't had that yet. Go ahead.

Building An Interpreter Training Module

SPEAKER_01 35:41

So I've been very interested in reading about global health, obviously, because I've also been trying to be a part of it. But I would say one book that really impacted me that a coworker talked to me about was The Spirit Catches You When You Fall Down. I don't know if you've read that one, Dr. Hickey. You need to read that. I might even send it to you because that is a great account of understanding how to communicate with patients with cultural humility. It's about a story of a young Hmong girl who had epilepsy in California in the 80s. And the Hmong people, you can read about in the book, but they're a very distinct group that doesn't really conform to anything in our society that we do. Like, for example, if you tell them take this medicine around dinner time, they don't they actually don't even really know what that means because in their culture they communicate using terms like when the pig is on the roast. Those kinds of things to tell time. So it's a it's a kind of a trial and tribulation of these providers in California and the and the Hmong family to save the life of this little girl who has epilepsy. Because with epilepsy, you have to take medications continuously throughout your life to control it. And that's also something that wasn't really understood by this community because they were only used to maybe taking antibiotics, which are a little bit of a shorter term fix, right? So that's the first book I would recommend. The second book I would recommend is Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green. I read that this summer as well. There is also another story of a specific patient in that who John Green met. His name's Henry, and he has tuberculosis and he's part of a clinic in Africa. But it also encapsulates the history of tuberculosis and the history of global health, in which we have the resources, we have the medications, they're just not being distributed to the people who need them the most. So that's my second book. I wanted to say a third book because I've just been really into reading.

SPEAKER_00 37:52

Please share because you you've thrown down the gauntlet now. All of my future uh people I'm gonna interview for the podcast, I'm gonna be asking them for book recommendations now. I mean, that'd be great.

SPEAKER_01 38:02

Well, maybe maybe I'll give a podcast recommendation too.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 38:06

The checkup with Dr. Mike. That is that's on Spotify. I think it's probably on everything, but I listen to it on Spotify, and it's basically this provider who's a very attractive influencer type of doctor. He interviews all of these different guests, spanning from some different breast surgeons to patients with certain illnesses. And what I like about him is that he he's not one of those influencer doctors that kind of sells out or gets bought out. He's somebody that is still working in a community setting, like a community-based hospital clinic setting. And so he sees what's important to the patients in actuality. So instead of saying like you should be taking X amount of vitamin blah, blah, blah, to make you live longer, he's like, let's just try to get people to eat healthy food. And let's just get try to be try to get people to get vaccinated. So he's in a very more realistic mindset, and I really like him too. So I would say those are my recommendations. And then also I would say thank you, Dr. Hickey, because you have changed so many people's lives and you don't even know it. Well, and you might know it, but you don't.

SPEAKER_00 39:21

I I see a lot of of you in me, and and uh I know when I invest my time in people like yourself that you're gonna do the same thing I'm doing, you're gonna take the time to help somebody through a situation, you're gonna make yourself available to people when others don't make yourself available. And and that's what it's all about. If if if you continue to do that and all the other people that we influence, then we'll be in a much better world. And and and we need more people like you. You're you're a great role model for nursing. I'm I'm so excited for where you're at in your nursing journey. You're pursuing higher education, uh, you're pursuing your international certificate, you're developing a module that's you you don't even know how many people that's gonna affect. I mean, obviously it's gonna affect all of the students that go on future trips, but it's gonna affect people that you'll never meet, in that they will have an advocate helping them all because of your module. So that's huge, Aubrey. And and it's just I'm so blessed to have met you and to consider you as a friend. And and that's the joy I get out of doing what I've done. You know, most faculty can't can't say that they're friends with their with their students. You know, when when you do travel together and work in clinics together, you you develop a friendship that that is that's that's lifelong. So for me, this has been a wonderful opportunity to to reconnect. And I look forward to following your journey through nursing and and know that you're gonna be making a huge difference in the lives of many. So thank you for your time today. I know you you probably could have been studying. Hopefully, this is a little break from that studying.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

And it is, yeah.

Laws, Safety, And Teaming With Interpreters

SPEAKER_00 40:59

I wish you better. And again, thank you for sharing the books. That's something I hadn't thought of because I know I put a lot of books that I highly recommended on my on my syllabus, never knowing if students would would read them or not. But there's so many dynamic books in healthcare that we do need to read, and and there's great value in those books. So this is going to be something I'm gonna be asking all of my next interviewees a book, a book that they can recommend. And that's all because of you. So thank you for your time today, and I wish you the best. And uh, let's keep in touch.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

I want to sincerely thank our guest, Aubrey, for her willingness to join us today on the International Service Learning Experiential Medical Education podcast. But most importantly, I want to thank Aubrey for the passion that she has shared with us, specific to her journey in healthcare. As a nurse, Aubrey has already touched many, many lives, and as a future advanced practitioner with a global certificate, she will no doubt be able to create even more positive patient outcomes in underserved populations.