By: Bernard Shen
Quietly, life in Monrovia has become a routine as a week has come and gone. The team unconsciously acquired the customs and habits in Liberia, from their food to their signature handshake. It’s hard to know where to start in describing the experience this past week, but I will try to talk about the “once in a lifetime experience” the IU team had while visiting Liberia.
After spending 24 hours a day with a group of people you soon get to know them not only as team members, but as individuals. It soon became apparent that everyone had come here with one common goal: to help the JFK Medical Center’s patients and staff. There is no place for egos as three teams have thrown themselves into every aspect of these incredible projects.
On our last day at the JFK Medical Center, we presented our recommendation to the JFK administrators on what we thought could be done to improve the facilities for both the patients and the staff. We spoke about:
- New ways to promote the JFK Medical Center’s image through media;
- Generating revenue by pricing the medication and payment by installment;
- Improving the hospital outpatient service and analyzing department costs.
The work we have done here is to make JFK Medical Center the envy of everyone who visits, and we should all be very proud of that. Through providing good recommendations we hope it can better serve the community — not only for the patients, but for the community as a whole. Our recommendations can’t change their lives overnight, but what we are doing here is making a real difference for current and future generations in Liberia.
Goodbye to JFK Medical Center and Liberia. Thank you for looking after us and ensuring we made the most of our experience, and what an exciting experience it has been. I feel like I have made friends for life during this wonderful and exciting trip.